Political emigrant Anar Aliyev, who arrived from Germany, was arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of large-scale drug trafficking, said his wife Anara Veliyeva. According to her, Anar was detained on July 25 in Baku.
“We, the whole family – my husband, two children, arrived in Azerbaijan on July 8 to visit Anar’s sick father.” On August 4, we had to return to Germany, where we received the right to reside,” she said.
According to her, on the morning of July 25, her husband was taken from home, allegedly to check information about the falsification of his passport. The family was promised that he would return soon. Later, they said that Anar was taken away because of Facebook posts, and then they said that drugs were found in his pocket. “My husband has never been a drug user, and would a drug user go to the police with drugs in his pocket?” the wife noted.
Anar’s wife repeatedly called to the police and tried to take evidence that her husband was a drug user. “Later, Anar said that he confessed under pressure. He was told that if he did not confess, there would be “problems” with family members and he was forced to “confess,” said his wife.
On August 4, Anara Valiyeva was not allowed to leave Azerbaijan for Germany. According to the woman, on the same day she was summoned to the Nizami district department and asked why she wanted to “flee the country.”
“I told them that we originally bought a return ticket, I wanted to return to where I work,” she said, noting that the ban on her departure was illegal.
At present, the rights of the spouses are protected by lawyer Elchin Sadigov, who has not yet had the opportunity to meet with the arrested person.
“We moved to Germany in 2016. My husband was engaged in political activities for some time, participated in protest actions organized by the “Choose Democratic Azerbaijan” association. But he didn’t offend anyone. In the last three years, he was not engaged in political activity at all. However, he was blacklisted and arrested,” said his wife.
Lawyer Elchin Sadigov said that Veliyev was charged under the Article 234.4.1 (drug trafficking by a group or by prior agreement) and 234.4.3 (large-scale drug trafficking), under which he faces 5 to 12 years in prison.
Anar Aliyev was involved in connection with suspicion of committing a specific criminal act, the investigation is ongoing,” Elshad Hajiyev, the head of the press service department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Turan. He said that the statements of the spouse of the arrested person were not true.