Police stop protest rally in Baku

More than 20 people were detained at a protest rally, the participants of which demanded the opening of land borders, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent reported from the scene. Meantime, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan assured there were no detainees, and people “were simply removed from the territory.”

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that earlier, the Baku authorities refused to sanction the protest action demanding the opening of land borders and scheduled for July 20.

Already in the morning, the territory in front of the building of the Cabinet of Ministers was taken under the supervision of reinforced police squads. The passage to the government building was blocked. The police began pushing people arriving in small groups away from the building of the Cabinet of Ministers, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent reported.

The protesters expressed their dissatisfaction with the current situation in the country. “Why do they keep the borders closed? Plane tickets are very expensive. We cannot take our patients abroad for treatment. No to dictatorship, we want democracy!” a middle-aged woman told journalists.

As the number of protesters increased, the police began to detain those who spoke and gave interviews to journalists. More than 20 men and women were detained. By 12:30 p.m., the police liberated the area near the building of the Cabinet of Ministers by pushing the protesters to the peripheral streets.

The press service for the Azerbaijani MIA informed the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent that no one was detained. “There are no detainees. The participants of the unsanctioned rally were simply removed from the territory,” the MIA’s press service reported.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 20, 2022 at 12:20 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.