Baku activists accuse law enforcers of cruel treatment
Several dozen people were detained in Baku at the action with a demand an investigation into the death of a 17-year-old resident of Ganja. After the detention, they reported law enforcers’ pressure, accusing them of cruel treatment and sexual harassment.
The action entitled “Justice for Elgyun Ibragimov” was held on June 2, near the “May 28” Metro Station in Baku; it ended with the detention of 63 people.
Elgyun Ibragimov, a schoolboy from the city of Ganja, was found in an abandoned dormitory with grave traumas and died in hospital on May 13. The official statement of law enforcement bodies claims that the teenager received his wounds in a fall from a height, and there was no violence against him from outsiders. The boy's relatives are sure that he was beaten up to death. According to one version, the teen had accidentally overheard a law enforcers’ conversation about illegal drug trafficking, after which he was killed.
According to eyewitnesses, near the “May 28” Metro Station, policemen detained everyone who seemed suspicious to them, including several minors. At the police station, they took phones away from everybody. According to the participants of the action, law enforcers took passwords to the phones from all the detainees in order to study their social media accounts.
"Authorities are looking for everyone who communicated about the protest action. Those who posted videos from the venue are administratively arrested," the “JAMnews” outlet quotes one of the female protest participants as saying today.
One of the female activists has reported that she and her girlfriend were detained by law enforcers in civilian clothes. "They roughly grabbed our hands and tore out the poster by force," she asserts. According to her story, the detainees, mostly students, spent about six hours at the police station, while law enforcers threatened them with violence. At least one girl, according to the detainee, was subjected to sexual harassment; several detainees felt bad, but they were not given any assistance. Having gained access to social media accounts of all the detainees, law enforcers took the adult protesters to the metro and released them. Then, policemen handed over the minor detainees to their parents.
A young man, also detained during the protest, said that policemen first demanded his and his friend's phones and passwords. At the police station, they also seized their other personal belongings; then, they wrote down their details and took fingerprints. "They treated us as rudely as expected. They didn’t hesitate to insult us. Regarding the protest, they shouted: ‘Have you completely lost your mind? Who are you to organize a protest?’,” the student said, adding that in his presence, one of the policemen insulted the detained woman, criticizing her clothes.
According to the detainees, policemen also spoke to them about Ibragimov's case, trying to convince them that there was no criminal element in the young man's death.
This was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 3, 2025 at 08:58 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here