On December 7, victims of the “Tartar case” and their relatives gathered in Baku, in front of the Presidential Administration building.
They were demanding the release of the ones who are still imprisoned, the proper investigation of torture allegations and if evidence of human rights violations is found, the punishment of those who carried them out. According to an aunt who was asking for the release of her nephew, the protest’s location was chosen for appealing directly to president Ilham Aliyev.
Among the participants was Nemat Maharramov, who says he was tortured in the occasion of the “Tartar Case”. Maharramov told Meydan TV that he can no longer find work to support his family because the event has left him physically unable to exercise any profession.
Police was present at the venue, blocking the gathering and preventing that a greater amount of people got together in the same place.
The “Tartar Case” took place in May 2017, when the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced the detention of a group of servicemen and civilians on charges of spying for the Armenian special services.
They were convicted of treason and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. However, an investigation soon revealed that at least eight suspects had died as a result of torture. With that, some victims started to speak up about the case, also alleging torture practiced by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.
It is known so far that 200 people were convicted of treason in these circumstances, including teenagers. Of those, some are still under arrest.
On the occasion of the International Day of Support to Victims of Torture (June 28), 24 members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe initiated an investigation on Azerbaijan on allegations of the state-practiced torture in this case.
