Report of "Bloody events in Nardaran village, Azerbaijan"

According to a Musavat Party statement, two policemen and one local resident were shot and killed in the Nardaran village on January 24, 2006. The killings were reported as a matter of widespread public concern and criticism. It is claimed the police misinformed the public about the event and without lawful reason announced a state of emergency in the village. The Musavat Party leaders have requested the authorities of Azerbaijan to conduct objective investigations to determine and punish any criminal acts and resolve problems with local residents by negotiation rather than force.

The Institute for Peace and Democracy explained the event in a press-release, criticizing actions of the police in the Nardaran village. The document alleges that infringement of laws by Azerbaijan law enforcement officers has turned into a routine event. According to the Institute, on January 24, 2006 in the Nardaran village, two police officers Captain Rovshan Ragimov and Lieutenant Ilgar Agaev, described as intoxicated, interrupted an engagement ceremony and having provoked conflict, opened fire. Ilham Kuliev and Gasan Azimov, village residents, were wounded. Nardaran resident Ramiz Gasanov returned fire; both he and the two policemen were killed in the ensuing exchange of gunfire.

It is alleged that the Ministry of Internal Affairs has not conducted any objective investigations of the incident; that the wounded residents Ilham Kuliev and Gasan Azimov were summarily removed from the hospital and their whereabouts remains unknown, and that consequently the situation in Nardaran village is tense with new incidents likely. Village residents allege police brutality and law-breaking and fear for their safety and the security of their property.

Ramil Usubov, Minister of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan in conversation with journalists, accused media sources of publishing erroneous and even insulting information on recent events. He claimed that the murdered officers had been sent to Nardaran to conduct their official duties and were not intoxicated. According to the minister, media representations of the incident are mistaken. He states that it is his information that there are criminal elements in the village who grow narcotic plants and store weapons and consequently do not want police presence in the village.

The Minister states that it is the criminal elements who threaten people and wish to turn Nardaran into a place isolated from police control, but the laws of Azerbaijan have always been applied both in Nardaran, and in other places, and that will continue.

According to the minister, wounded Nardaran residents are now undergoing treatment in a hospital; after their recovery they will be brought to court.