YOUTHS PROTEST AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY IN ISMAYILLI

Today Azerbaijan's youth held a protest demanding to break a vicious cycle in which riot police harass peaceful protesters and journalists. Up to 200 people have demonstrated in Azerbaijan's capital to express solidarity with recent protests in the central town of Ismayilli. The participants of today's protest voiced slogans such as 'Keep your guns out of us!', 'We back up Ismayilli residents!', 'Baku supports Ismayilli!', 'Resign!', 'Freedom!', and so on. The police forces deployed in the area long before the start of the protest took action to disperse the crowd in a violent manner. Journalists were also ill-treated and hindered in performing their job. Even a supposed plain clothes police agent spat at one of the journalists wearing a press jacket and insulted him. The protesters continued the action heading in different directions. Dozens of youth activists, human rights defenders and journalists have been detained. Among them are Radio Liberty correspondent Khadija Ismayilova, Azadliq newspaper journalist Shahvalad Chobanoglu, 1news.az website reporter Zaur Rasulzadeh, human rights activists Intigam Aliyev, Malahat Nasibova and Ilgar Nasibov, bloggers Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, Emin Milli and Mursel Aliyev, reporter Fuad Hajiyev and others. The police used force against human rights defender and journalist Emin Huseynov and IRFS reporter Rasim Aliyev, by pushing them rudely. While hurrying to film the detention of protesters, the Yurd TV reporter was pushed from behind by a plain clothes agent and hit Objective TV reporter Rashad Aliyev. Both of the journalists fell on the ground, as a result of which Aliyev suffered leg injury and the video camera belonging to the Yurd TV reporter was broken. The organizers of the protest had announced in advance that the action had no political motives. The action was against the police brutality in Ismayilli district, where the police used tear gas and rubber-bullet guns to suppress the riot.