The chairman of the Gazakh District Utilities Services is suing an employee for 10,000 manats ($5,900) for claims that she made in an interview with Meydan TV.
On 26 July, Meydan TV published an
interview
with Royala Azimova, a cleaning lady at the utilities service in the Azerbaijani region of Gazakh. Azimova claimed that the organization’s chairman, Arif Heydarov, did not distribute the bank cards with which employees in Azerbaijan normally receive their salaries. According to Azimova, Heydarov kept the cards and withdrew all the salaries himself, keeping the lion’s share. Azimova said that she received 52 manats ($30) per month out of her official monthly salary of 122 manats ($72).
Azimova told Meydan TV that just before losing her job she confronted her boss. “This time, when the boss called me in and gave me half my salary, I said that I want my full salary. I’ve got three kids at home and my husband is disabled and can’t work. How long will I sweep the streets while you take my salary? He said that that’s the rule here, and if you don’t like it you’re welcome to leave.”
Now Heydarov is suing Azimova at the Gazakh District Court for 10,000 manats (($5,900) in damages for libel and insults to his dignity. In the lawsuit, Arif Heydarov denies Azimova’s allegations that he stole money from his employees’ salaries. “On 26 July I was told that Royala Azimova had had an article published about me on the Meydan TV website, the Qazaxlilar Facebook page, and Xalqxəbər.az,” the document reads. “I purportedly took her salary from her, gave her 52 manats and kept the rest. All employees, including Royala Azimova, received their salaries from Kapital Bank using their plastic cards. People who posted comments on those libelous and insulting articles used indecent and insulting phrases about me.”
The regional executive authorities declined to comment on the lawsuit, stating that the court will have the final word.
Royala Azimova’s husband, Mirjafar Huseynzadeh, told Meydan TV that he recently had a run-in with his wife’s former boss. “Using obscenities, [Heydarov] insulted me for our complaints to the press about him, and the two people who were with him came at me and grabbed one of my ears each and pulled,” Huseynzadeh says. “Arif Heydarov said that if I complained to anyone again, he would have my ears cut off.”
Huseynzadeh is disabled and unable to work. “We have three ill children, and my wife started working so our family could somehow meet its demands,” he told Meydan TV. “My pension is 165 manats ($97), and it’s not enough to support the family or to buy medicines. Arif Heydarov has no idea about our situation… If the court satisfies his suit, we’ll renounce our citizenship and go to embassies to seek asylum. An official demanding 10,000 manats from a hungry family that lives an intolerable life is the greatest disgrace.”
The Gazakh District Court will hold a hearing on Arif Heydarov’s suit against his former employee on 3 September.
