09:01, 16 October 2026

A participant in the protests against the hijab ban has been arrested in Azerbaijan.

Fizuli Guseynov. Photo http://gozetci.az/article/index/5316?l=en_US

A resident of the Absheron district, Fizuli Guseynov, has been sentenced to 30 days of arrest after a picket demanding the lifting of the ban on wearing hijabs in schools. Earlier, his son received the same punishment for protesting against the ban.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on October 11, law enforcement detained a resident of the village of Mahammadi in the Absheron district, Rafael Guseynzade, after he wrote the slogan "Freedom to the hijab!" on the building of a local school and published a photo on social media. The court sentenced the young man to 30 days of administrative arrest, his father Fizuli Guseynov reported.

Since October 12, school leaders in Azerbaijan have not allowed teachers and schoolgirls who refused to remove hijabs to attend classes. Around several schools in Baku, students and teachers held lessons outside in protest. On October 13, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the detention of 37 participants in the protests, while activists counted more than 200 detained. The protests due to the exclusion of children and female teachers from classes have become a continuation of a long-standing dispute over religious clothing in schools, according to a report by the "Caucasian Knot" titled "Protests over school dress code in Azerbaijan".

Fizuli Guseynov participated in a picket with the slogan "Freedom to the hijab!" in the village of Mahammadi the day before yesterday, October 14, after which he stopped communicating, Guseynov's relatives reported to the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" today.

Only yesterday, October 15, relatives learned that Fizuli Guseynov had been arrested for 30 days by the decision of the Absheron District Court. What offenses have been attributed to the father and son, the relatives do not yet know.

It was not possible to obtain comments from the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, reported the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

Fizuli Guseynov has previously faced administrative responsibility. In June 2018, he was detained during a solitary picket in Baku and arrested for 10 days under the administrative article on disobedience to the police.

Recall that in September, the government of Azerbaijan made changes to the rules regulating the appearance of students in public schools. Now, students are prohibited from wearing clothing items that violate the unified standard of uniform or do not correspond to the secular nature of education. On October 6, the cabinet also approved requirements for the appearance of teachers: now educators must adhere to a business style of clothing, "corresponding to the principle of the secular nature of education." The reform aims to completely eliminate religious, ethnic, and socio-economic differences in educational institutions, the authorities explained. Although the official statement does not mention the hijab, it is precisely this that is implied by clothing that is "not in accordance with the secular nature of education," believes, in particular, the rights defender of believers, Arzu Abdulla.

Restrictions on wearing the hijab may increase tensions between the state and the religious part of society. The actions of the authorities are possibly related to political concerns - in particular, the desire to prevent the use of religious discontent by external forces, analysts indicated in interviews with the "Caucasian Knot".

Translated automatically via OpenAI from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/427517