The coalition for transparency calls on Azerbaijani President to punish officials in Sabirabad

• Monday, May 21, 21:22

Baku. The coalition to increase transparency in the extractive industry, which brings together 160 NGOs from Azerbaijan, appealed to President Ilham Aliyev for the early release of a member of the coalition Oktay Gyulalyev and punishment of the officials in Sabirabad for arbitrariness. 

                The letter's authors draw attention to the health problems of Gyulalyev, and remind that that he takes care of his two children. 

                The letter notes that on April 8, while in Sabirabad region, without any reason, Gyulalyev was arrested by police and brutally beaten. He was arrested for 12 days, and then against him a preventive measure was applied, and he was arrested for two months. 

                "We want to point out that his arrest and subsequent court decision were completely illegal.  The reason for the arbitrariness of the executive power was the monitoring of the effects of the Kura flooding, on which Gyulalyev has already spent 2 years. 

                Knowing Gyulalyev personally, we can say he could not offend anyone. The arrest stems from the fact that the activity of Gyulalyev touched someone's interests. A false accusation was made and the Presidential Administration was presented false information against him. In fact, he, as an NGO representative, demanded compliance with the orders and assignments of the President. In fact, Gyulalyev was a participant in the implementation of your plans provided for the population of the region," the letter reads. 

                Oktay is a member of the Monitoring Group of the Coalition "Improving Transparency in Extractive Industries> (EITI) and the editor in chief of the Transparency and Kur-Araz journals.  He is the coordinator of Kura Civil Society Staff, which has dealt with troubleshooting of the flood of 2010 for two years.