UPD: The Azerbaijani authorities detained seven people during an operation at the office of the Russian propaganda news agency Sputnik in Baku, reports Minval and APA.
In Yekaterinburg, on July 12, security forces conducted a raid near the Baku Plaza shopping center, detaining the head of the Azerbaijan-Ural organization, Shakhin Shykhlinsky. His car was stopped near the shopping center, windows were smashed, and Shykhlinsky and his son were pulled out. Later, his son was released, but Shakhin Shykhlinsky remains under arrest.
The arrests were carried out as part of a criminal case initiated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan on charges of fraud, illegal entrepreneurship, and legalization of property obtained by criminal means.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan announced the initiation of a criminal case on charges of murder of citizens of the country by a group of persons, committed with particular cruelty by prior conspiracy, abuse of official powers, and the use of torture that led to the death of a person.
According to the investigation, on the morning of June 27, officers of the Russian National Guard, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the FSB of Russia detained citizens of Azerbaijan and natives of the country in Yekaterinburg on suspicion of involvement in a criminal case of murders in 2001-2011.
The agency claims that after being detained and brought to the buildings of the security forces, the Azerbaijanis, "who were in a practically helpless state, unable to defend themselves," were subjected to numerous blows with blunt hard objects to various parts of the body, which led to "serious bodily injuries."
According to the agency, it was as a result of the use of violence that the 60-year-old citizen of Azerbaijan Huseyn Safarov and his brother, 55-year-old Ziyaddin Safarov, died. The first man died in the morning hours from injuries in a service vehicle," the message says. A forensic examination concluded that Huseyn Safarov died from post-traumatic and post-hemorrhagic shock caused by multiple injuries, including numerous rib fractures. The cause of Ziyaddin Safarov's death is also called post-traumatic shock. At the same time, Russian doctors linked the death to "heart failure," while Azerbaijani experts found hematomas, abrasions, and bruises "almost all over the body."
On June 27, security forces detained "several dozen" Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, and the regional department of the Investigative Committee reported the next day about "stopping the activities of an ethnic criminal group." According to the investigation, all the detainees are involved in several murders and attempted murders in Yekaterinburg in 2001, 2010, and 2011. How many people were detained in the criminal case was not specified by the Investigative Committee.
On June 29, a court in Yekaterinburg sent three defendants in the case to a pre-trial detention center — Mazahir, Ayaz, and Akif Safarov. The lawyer of one of them told reporters that during the arrest, security forces broke his ribs. Another man attended the court hearing with hematomas on his face. On July 1, a court in Yekaterinburg arrested another defendant — Bakir Safarov.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan called the actions of the Russian security forces "unacceptable violence." After that, Azerbaijan refused to accept Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk. "In the current situation, the Azerbaijani side does not consider the visit of Overchuk or other Russian officials appropriate," a source in the government told Minval.
The country's Ministry of Culture announced the cancellation of all joint events with the Russian Federation planned to be held in the republic, including concerts, festivals, performances, and exhibitions, regardless of who organized them.
On June 30, Azerbaijani security forces conducted searches at the Russian agency Sputnik in Baku, after which local media reported the detention of two "FSB agents," who turned out to be editor-in-chief Igor Kartavykh and chief editor Yevgeny Belousov. An employee of the Russian video agency Ruptly, Aytekin Guseynova, was also detained. She was detained when she arrived at the Sputnik bureau office to film the searches taking place in the building.