Azerbaijani journalist links his persecution with his civil stance

Anar Abdulla, a journalist, intends to appeal against the fine imposed on him after his detention in front of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan. His defence is drafting a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in connection with Abdulla's previous detention, when he covered an action.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Anar Abdulla was detained on September 24 because of his conflict with a local resident when filming a picket in Baku. The police fined the journalist for petty hooliganism. Abdulla claims that he was attacked by a provocateur.

"I wasn't acquainted with the man. I knew about him from the last year's incident, when Tural Garaev attacked a minor daughter of an oppositional politician," Abdulla said.

According to his story, the police had accused him of foul language in the street and imposed a fine of 50 manats (about USD 30).

In 2012, Abdulla joined the "Nida" civil movement, which then actively participated in public and political life, and held actions against non-combat losses in the army. He was first brought to administrative responsibility in May 2016, when he was arrested for 10 days.

In 2018, Abdulla moved to the Election Monitoring and Democracy Education Centre (EMDEC), and began cooperating with the "gozetci.az" website.