Family members of a group of persons accused of participating in illegal armed groups in Syria on May 19 tried to hold a protest in front of the building of the Presidential Administration, Turan reports.
The protesters are protesting against the charges against their children. The police did not allow the action and the participants were removed from the territory by buses.
One of the protesters said their children were tricked into being taken to Syria. The mother of the detained person, Marifa Mardanova, said that his son was fraudulently taken to Syria in 2013. After two months in Syria, Marif returned voluntarily, and was arrested in Azerbaijan, she said.
Another protester said that they had repeatedly sent their protest to the General Prosecutor's Office, the Presidential Administration and the Ombudsman, but there was no result.
“Our children were taken to Syria under the pretext of work. President Ilham Aliyev said in 2013 that if those who left for Syria voluntarily return back, they would not be arrested. However, they were arrested immediately upon arrival in Azerbaijan.”
Employees of the former Ministry of National Security detained 26 citizens of Azerbaijan on September 23, 2014. They were charged under Article 12.1 (application of the Azerbaijani law for crimes committed outside Azerbaijan), under Article 279.1 (Creation of armed formations not provided for by Azerbaijani legislation) and under Article 170.3 (Criminal proceedings against persons under the age of majority) of the Criminal Code.
