MP Javid Osmanov said that migrants deported from Germany to Azerbaijan are not persecuted: “This is a completely false claim. Immigrants returning to the country continue to live a normal life like other citizens.”
Fakt Yoxla examined whether the MP’s claim was true.
Political activist Samir Ashurov, who was deported from Germany to Azerbaijan on March 29, 2022, was detained in Baku on April 19.
He was charged under Article 126.2.4 of the Criminal Code (intentional infliction of serious harm to health in a generally dangerous manner). The Nizami District Court sentenced him to four months in prison.
According to Zibeyda Sadigova, Ashurov's advocate, her client did not accept the accusation. Ashurov pleaded not guilty and said he did not have a knife. The alleged knife was forcibly placed in his pocket. According to the advocate, Ashurov went on a hunger strike to protest his arrest on political order.
Ashurov, who applied to the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees for political asylum, was an active participant in protests in Germany criticizing the Azerbaijani government.
Political activist Jafar Mirzayev, who was sent to Azerbaijan by readmission from Germany on November 24, 2021, was detained on January 28, 2022, in Baku by plainclothes men. A criminal case has been filed against Mirzayev under Article 234.4.3 of the Criminal Code (sale of precursors for the use in the illicit manufacture and processing of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, or the manufacture, acquisition, storage, shipment, or transportation of precursors in large quantities for the same purpose). He was sentenced to four months in prison. Mirzayev was a member of the Choose Democratic Azerbaijan (CDA) organization in Germany and took part in the organization's actions.
Mutallim Orujov, an activist of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP), was deported from Germany to Azerbaijan in June 2021. A few months after his return from Germany, he was also charged under Article 234.4.3 of the Criminal Code. The Narimanov District Court sentenced Orujov to four months in prison.
Malik Rzayev is one of the Azerbaijani citizens deported from Germany in June 2021. He was charged under Article 234.4.3 of the Criminal Code, as in the case of Mutallim Orujov and Jafar Mirzayev. Both Orujov's and Rzayev's advocates, Nemat Karimli, said they had been asked about people they had met in Germany, shown photos of political immigrants, and asked if they had participated in political events.
Another APFP activist, Punhan Karimli, was deported from Germany to Azerbaijan in November 2021. Karimli was detained in Baku on January 25 and sentenced to four months in prison on drug charges.
Thus, these people, who were deported from Germany and engaged in political activities, were arrested on similar charges after returning to Azerbaijan.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that Javid Osmanov's claim is Mostly False.
