Fourteen residents of Nardaran remain under administrative arrest

After the release of 57 out of the 71 persons arrested administratively in connection with the riots in the Azerbaijani settlement of Nardaran, the remaining 14 are still in custody; their arrest expires before January 15, Natiq Kerimov, one of the elders of Nardaran, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

On November 26, the unrest in Nardaran was provoked by a special operation, during which law enforcers detained 14 people, including Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement. As a result of the clashes between the local residents and the police, seven persons were killed. On December 3, it was reported about the arrest of 32 people in connection with the investigation into the case of the unrest, and later, arrests and searches continued.

According to Kerimov, in total, in December, 71 residents of Nardaran were sentenced to administrative arrests for 15-30 days. They were mainly accused of disobedience to the police.

In the second half of December, detentions and arrests in Nardaran practically stopped, said Natiq Kerimov, but the settlement is still patrolled by reinforced police units; there are police posts at the entrances; and those, not registered in Nardaran, are not allowed into the settlement.

"Power supply is completely restored; gas is delivered into a number of districts," Kerimov has described the current situation in Nardaran to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In the opinion of Togrul Djuvarly, a member of the Azerbaijani National Committee for European Integration, the suspension of electricity and gas supplies to Nardaran was the authorities' signal to local residents that they should not hope for any preferences; and there will be no special rules for the settlement.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.