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THREAD: #Azerbaijan is using public health emergency for political retaliation to punish legitimate speech. @hrw documented 7 recent arrests on opposition activists on spurious disobedience & breaking lockdown rules https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/16/azerbaijan-crackdown-critics-amid-pandemic. More on those people in this thread-
Police arrested Shakir Mammadov, member of the opposition Azerbaijan Democracy and Welfare Movement, on April 6 near his house, demanding that he delete critical Facebook post calling on #Azerbaijan gov’t to assist vulnerable families. He refused. Sentenced to 15 days!
#Azerbaijan police arrested Faig Amirli, opposition APFP member on Apr 8 as he was taking garbage out in his slippers, 100 meters away from his house. Family couldn’t find him for a day. Sentenced to 30 days for violating the lockdown regime.
#Azerbaijan police detained Nijat Abdullayev, another APFP member, on Apr 10 on his way to a supermarket. He had sms permission required in #Azerbaijan to go out for 2 hours, but still sentenced to 30 days’ detention on the resistance charge.
Ruslan Amirov, another APFP activists, arrested in #Azerbaijan on Apr 10. He had an electronic authorization to take his 12-year-old child with a chronic health condition for treatment. Arrested after leaving the hospital & sentenced to 30 days for violating lockdown. Outrageous!
#Azerbaijan police arrested youth activist Nariman Abdulla on Apr 10 in Lankaran. Picked up from his home & sentenced to 10 days for violating lockdown. He had been v critical of the authorities on social media over the insufficient social programs during the quarantine.
#Azerbaijan police arrested Natig Isbatov, a journalist for the pro-opposition http://7gun.az news website, on Apr 9, when he filmed a protest in front of a municipal office in Baku. Sentenced to 30 days for violating the lockdown & disobeying police.
#Azerbaijan police arrested Anar Melikov, APFP member from Jalilabad on Mar 22. He had published social media posts criticizing the poor and unsanitary conditions in the city’s quarantine centers. Sentenced to 10 days for disseminating false information regarding the virus.
Imprisoning people as a coercive measure, let alone for legitimate speech, is wrong! #Azerbaijan should immediately release those in detention on misdemeanor violations & end the political use of restrictive measures, says @hrw https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/16/azerbaijan-crackdown-critics-amid-pandemic
