On February 14, 2021, an Azerbaijani political activist and video blogger Orkhan Aghayev, who lives in Berlin, Germany, was attacked by 8 people and seriously injured. According to him, the criminals were speaking in Turkish. They acted as a team and left the area immediately after beating Aghayev. After the incident, Aghayev was taken to hospital. Although a couple of days have passed since the incident, Orkhan Aghayev still have sharp headaches and dizziness. Aghayev was informed that the police had launched an investigation and one of the criminals had been detained.
The pages below are about Orkhan Aghayev’s public and political activity.
https://www.youtube.com/c/HUSEYNTV1/featured
https://www.facebook.com/orkhan.aghayev.338
As DAS (Choose Democratic Azerbaijan) we think that the crime against Orkhan Aghayev is not any street fight or quarrel. Incidents in other European countries, at the same time, the campaign by Azerbaijani authority against its political opponents, including migrants show that this is a political incident. I’d like note that Azerbaijani authority has been “neutralizing” political opposition, independent journalists, political activists, civil society activist using both legal and illegal ways for years. Beating blogger Aghayev can be related to the second factor. Taking into consideration Afghan Mukhtarli, who was illegally kidnapped from Georgia in 2017, Huseyn Abdullayev, who was detained in Turkey in 2018 and handed over to Azerbaijan, Elvin Isayev, who was deported from Ukraine in December 2019, we can easily see Azerbaijani authority’s “professionalism” in this regard. There is a list of political migrants in foreign countries “punished” by Azerbaijani government.
Putting aside racketeering through individuals doing business in different countries, we can note that on December 6, 2020, Mohammad Mirzali was wounded in a shooting in France, and on January 15, 2021, Vugar Rza, a member of the APFP, died in Belgium. Moreover, family members of political activists in Europe, who live in Azerbaijan, are facing threats such as summoning to police station, administrative detention, dismissal, expulsion from university and etc. To note that the political authority “neutralize” the activists through this methods.
Besides, it is publicly known that “Osmanen Germania”, which is declared wanted in Germany, has relations with Azerbaijani government. The Vice-Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament Adil Aliyev has photos with some members of that group. German community also know about the trial against some members of Osmanen Germania in Stuttgart and prohibition of its activity. In March 2018, Adil Aliyev showed a power to protesters through the members of that group in the event organized in Cologne to support President Ilham Aliyev, and publicized it in his status, which was deleted later. The link below is about the abovementioned event:
https://d9mc3ts4czbpr.cloudfront.net/ru/article/adil-eliyevin-adi-kriminal-birlesme-ile-hallanir/
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmanen_Germania
In addition, Azerbaijani Prosecutor General’s Office declared Orkhan Aghayev and other activists as wanted in September 2020.
https://oc-media.org/tag/interpol/
Dear Colleagues!
Taking into account all abovementioned, we ask you to cooperate with German law-enforcement agencies, as well as other structures to ensure Orkhan Aghayev’s safety. We think that if the problems that Orkhan Aghayev faced are not assessed legally, such criminal cases will be spread widely in the future. This will allow all criminal groups controlled by Azerbaijani authority to “neutralize” other activists. We think that an explanation can be demanded from Azerbaijani authority about the indicent.
Photos of the incident are attached to the appeal.