In Azerbaijan, a minor activist suspected of unsanctioned action

A 17-year-old Azerbaijani activist, who earlier claimed she was persecuted for participating in the campaign "Let's tell about a dictator", became a suspect in the case on unsanctioned action after posting a video from a polyclinic.

On September 21, the teenager was summoned to the unit No. 29 of the Yasamal District Police Department. "They were questioning me during 4.5 hours without an advocate. I allegedly illegally made a video record in a polyclinic. I face a fine of 500 manats (300 US dollars) or six months of imprisonment," the activist stated.

According to her, in early September, she came to the polyclinic together with a patient, who complained about receiving no insulin due to her at the expense of the state.

"I accompanied the woman to the head physician to find out the reasons for the refusal in insulin. At first, the head physician said he would find out the reasons. But then he began to demand from me to stop video recording and said that I had no right to record a video without his permission," the activist said.

She managed to defend the video record made by her, and on September 7, she posted her video report on the "Azad soz" (Free Word) Channel on YouTube.

According to the activist, the head physician filed a complaint to the police against her and accused her of unsanctioned video recording. The activist herself pleads not guilty. She believes polyclinic officers should not have interfered with her video recording.

"An unsanctioned action is to harm people's health by depriving them of medicines," the activist said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 24, 2018 at 10:17 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.