IPD holds protest in Baku against corruption in Azerbaijan

An original protest action against corruption in Azerbaijan was held today by local civil society activists in Baku in front of the office of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD). They sent balloons into the sky with quotations from the speeches of President Ilham Aliev on combating corruption.

As explained by Leila Yunus, a well-known human rights defender and director of the IPD, in this manner civil society activists drew attention to the discrepancy between words and actions of the authorities in terms of "mass trampling of citizens' property rights of citizens by state officials."

According to Ms Yunus, in the period from February 10 to June 16, 2011, the IPD sent 8 applications to the Presidential Administration, State Commission against Corruption and Interior Minister about violations of citizens' property rights by the State Committee for Property Issues (SCPI) and the Baku Mayoralty; however, no efficient actions in response to these applications were taken.

According to her story, as a result of arbitrariness of SCPI bosses and Mayoralty officials, a mass campaign of alienation of citizens' property is underway. "During 2009-2010 about 20,000 residents of the capital were unlawfully deprived of their apartments and houses. In 2011-2012 in Baku, they plan to demolish the houses currently inhabited by about 60,000 persons," said Leila Yunus.

With the aim to attract attention to these problems several dozens civil society activists have held the today's action in front of the IPD office. Policemen were equal in number. They tried to tear away the balloons with President Aliev's quotations against corruption and banners with similar slogans.

After the policemen left, the protesters inflated new balloons, made inscriptions on them, went out into the street and let the balloons into the sky. They cried out slogans against corruption.