03 November 2018, 17:33
Seven religious activists convicted in Azerbaijan
Firudin Zeinalov, an activist of the "Muslim Unity" Movement, and six other persons detained after clashes with the police at the sanctuary in Ganja, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from a year and four months to three years.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in August, the Azerbaijani Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners (ACPPP) updated the list of political prisoners by adding Firudin Zeinalov to it. According to the ACPPP, Zeinalov was arrested in October 2017 on charges of resisting the police; later, he was charged under the articles on terror and murder in connection with the events in Ganja.
"How could a person in custody commit crimes nine months after his arrest? The political motives for his prosecution raise no doubts," said the source from the ACPPP.
On July 3, an attempt was made on Elmar Veliev, the head of the Ganja city administration. Law enforcers treated the attempt as a terror act.
Zeinalov himself called his case fabricated and believes that it was caused by his fight against authorities' injustice. According to Zeinalov, he had been under pressure since 2000, when, as a student, he refused to join the ruling "Eni Azerbaijan" Party and became a member of the opposition.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 3, 2018 at 09:43 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
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