The journalist says he was verbally abused by the relatives and deputies of a mayor following the publication of the article and his family members were threatened.
“Qafqazinfo.az is my only regular place of employment, where I work on a contract basis. On 26 November, I wrote an article titled “A Mayor Walking with a Walking Stick and Unemployed Youths” and since yesterday morning, the Head of Dashkasan District Executive Power Ahad Abiyev started to harass me through his relatives, expressing a strong objection about the aforementioned article and threatening me. This morning, Abiyev’s deputy Namig Suleymanov phoned me and started to curse me using very offensive swear words. Of course, I did not sink to his level, but told him that I would make the issue public,” Verdizade noted.