In Baku, Court of Appeal leaves activist Ismayilov in custody

A complaint filed by Azerbaijani activist Fuad Ismayilov, who was arrested for a month on the charge of disobedience to the police, was left without satisfaction. Fuad Ismayilov complained that he was beaten during and after his detention, his advocate reported.

Fikret Djafarli, the head of the public association “Centre for Investigation Against Torture”, said that Fuad Ismayilov was detained after he had taken away a Turkish flag in a public place. According to Fuad Ismayilov, Fuad Ismayilov believes that placing the state flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey near bars and gambling establishments is immoral.

The defence filed motions to view the recordings from CCTV cameras at the place where Fuad Ismayilov was detained, but the motions were never satisfied, advocate Djavad Djavadov said.

Fuad Ismayilov complained to the police that “flags of Azerbaijan and Turkey are hung over clubs and illegal disorderly places of entertainment, thus covering up their unseemly activities.”

“Since the Fuad Ismayilov’s complaints were in vain, he decided to draw attention to the problem by tearing down a Turkish flag. Meanwhile, he noted that he loves Turkey, like Azerbaijan, and did not want to insult the flag of the country,” Djavad Djavadov explained.

Now the advocate intends to prepare a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).