Latest news with #Ziyaddin
Straits Times
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Azerbaijan says brothers arrested by Russia were tortured and beaten to death
Azerbaijan says brothers arrested by Russia were tortured and beaten to death BAKU - Post-mortems on two Azerbaijani brothers who died in Russian police custody have shown that they were beaten to death, authorities in the South Caucasus country said on Tuesday as tensions rose sharply between Moscow and Baku. Azerbaijani prosecutors said they had opened a criminal investigation into the alleged murders of Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov following their arrest last week in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. The case concerns "the torture and deliberate killing with particular cruelty of Azerbaijani citizens and ethnic Azerbaijanis by officers of law enforcement agencies of the Russian Federation", the state prosecutor's office said. In a further deepening of the crisis, Azerbaijan on Monday detained a group of Russian state media employees on suspicion of fraud, drawing a protest from Moscow. On Tuesday, an Azerbaijani government source told Reuters that about 15 more Russians had been arrested separately on suspicion of drug trafficking and cybercrime. The source shared videos showing them being handcuffed, made to march in line, and being bundled into police vans. The cases threaten to severely damage relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, an oil-producing country that has close ties with Turkey. Russia summoned the Azerbaijani ambassador to Moscow on Tuesday to receive an official protest over "the latest unfriendly actions of Baku, deliberate steps by the Azerbaijani side to dismantle bilateral relations", the Russian foreign ministry said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the journalists' arrests were an "extremely emotional reaction" by Azerbaijan, and Russia aimed to negotiate their release. FORENSIC TESTS The chain of events began last week when investigators in Yekaterinburg, a Russian industrial city, conducted scores of raids against ethnic Azerbaijanis whom they suspected of complicity in historic unsolved crimes, including serial killings. Russian investigators initially said Ziyaddin had died of heart failure and did not give a cause for death for Huseyn. The bodies of the men arrived in Baku on Monday evening. Adalat Hasanov, head of forensic examination at Azerbaijan's health ministry, said fresh post-mortems showed the brothers both died of "post-traumatic shock" due to severe beatings. Russian examiners' assertion that Ziyaddin, who was born in 1970, died of heart failure, was a "blatant falsehood", Hasanov told reporters. "During the follow-up examination, we discovered multiple fractures on Ziyaddin's body resulting from beatings. All of his ribs were broken, and a haemorrhage was found on his head, also caused by blunt force trauma," he said. The other brother, Huseyn, born in 1966, also died as a result of beatings, Hasanov said. He said all of the deceased internal organs had been removed during the previous autopsy in Russia, "which may indicate an attempt to conceal the true cause of death". Azerbaijan and Russia have traded barbs since the men's deaths, with Baku accusing Russian police of carrying out extrajudicial killings "on ethnic grounds", an allegation Moscow has rejected. Russian investigators said all the six men arrested held Russian passports. The Azerbaijani police raid targeting Russian journalists in Baku was conducted at the office of Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local branch of the state-run Rossiya Segodnya news agency. An Azerbaijani source said two people had been placed under formal arrest and five others were still under investigation. The case relates to alleged fraud, illegal entrepreneurship and money laundering, the source said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Azerbaijani men arrested by Russian police were beaten to death, Baku says
Azerbaijani men arrested by Russian police were beaten to death, Baku says BAKU - Post-mortems conducted in Baku on two Azerbaijani men who died last week after they were arrested by Russian police show that they were beaten to death, a state forensic examiner said on Tuesday. The deaths of the men, brothers named Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, have raised diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Baku and led to the tit-for-tat arrests of Russian state media journalists working in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's ambassador to Russia was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow on Tuesday to receive an official protest against Baku's "unfriendly actions" and the "illegal detention" of the journalists. The rift between Russia and Azerbaijan has widened after investigators in Yekaterinburg, a Russian industrial city, conducted scores of raids last week targeting ethnic Azerbaijanis whom they suspected of complicity in historic unsolved crimes, including serial killings. The Safarov brothers died during the raids, in which six people were arrested. Russian investigators initially said Ziyaddin had died of heart failure and did not give a cause for death for Huseyn. The bodies of the men arrived in Baku on Monday evening for forensic examination. Adalat Hasanov, head of forensic examination at Azerbaijan's health ministry, said fresh post-mortems showed the brothers both died of "post-traumatic shock" due to severe beatings. Russian examiners' assertion that Ziyaddin, who was born in 1970, died of heart failure, is a "blatant falsehood," Hasanov told reporters. "During the follow-up examination, we discovered multiple fractures on Ziyaddin's body resulting from beatings. All of his ribs were broken, and a haemorrhage was found on his head, also caused by blunt force trauma," he said. The other brother, Huseyn, born in 1966, also died as a result of beatings, Hasanov said. He said all of the deceased internal organs had been removed during the previous autopsy in Russia, "which may indicate an attempt to conceal the true cause of death." Azerbaijan and Russia have traded barbs since the men's deaths, with Baku accusing Russian police of carrying out extrajudicial killings "on ethnic grounds", an allegation Moscow has rejected. Russian investigators said all the six men arrested held Russian passports. On Monday, police in Baku arrested two journalists working for Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local affiliate of Russian state outlet Rossiya Segodnya, and said it would investigate the agency for illegal funding. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hindustan Times
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Azerbaijani men arrested by Russian police were beaten to death, Baku says
By Nailia Bagirova and Lucy Papachristou Azerbaijani men arrested by Russian police were beaten to death, Baku says BAKU, - Post-mortems conducted in Baku on two Azerbaijani men who died last week after they were arrested by Russian police show that they were beaten to death, a state forensic examiner said on Tuesday. The deaths of the men, brothers named Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, have raised diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Baku and led to the tit-for-tat arrests of Russian state media journalists working in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's ambassador to Russia was summoned to the foreign ministry in Moscow on Tuesday to receive an official protest against Baku's "unfriendly actions" and the "illegal detention" of the journalists. The rift between Russia and Azerbaijan has widened after investigators in Yekaterinburg, a Russian industrial city, conducted scores of raids last week targeting ethnic Azerbaijanis whom they suspected of complicity in historic unsolved crimes, including serial killings. The Safarov brothers died during the raids, in which six people were arrested. Russian investigators initially said Ziyaddin had died of heart failure and did not give a cause for death for Huseyn. The bodies of the men arrived in Baku on Monday evening for forensic examination. Adalat Hasanov, head of forensic examination at Azerbaijan's health ministry, said fresh post-mortems showed the brothers both died of "post-traumatic shock" due to severe beatings. Russian examiners' assertion that Ziyaddin, who was born in 1970, died of heart failure, is a "blatant falsehood," Hasanov told reporters. "During the follow-up examination, we discovered multiple fractures on Ziyaddin's body resulting from beatings. All of his ribs were broken, and a haemorrhage was found on his head, also caused by blunt force trauma," he said. The other brother, Huseyn, born in 1966, also died as a result of beatings, Hasanov said. He said all of the deceased internal organs had been removed during the previous autopsy in Russia, "which may indicate an attempt to conceal the true cause of death." Azerbaijan and Russia have traded barbs since the men's deaths, with Baku accusing Russian police of carrying out extrajudicial killings "on ethnic grounds", an allegation Moscow has rejected. Russian investigators said all the six men arrested held Russian passports. On Monday, police in Baku arrested two journalists working for Sputnik Azerbaijan, the local affiliate of Russian state outlet Rossiya Segodnya, and said it would investigate the agency for illegal funding. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
OC Media
2 days ago
- Politics
- OC Media
Baku's relations with Moscow plunge to new lows after alleged police killing of ethnic Azerbaijanis
Sign in or or Become a member to unlock the audio version of this article Join the voices Aliyev wants to silence. For over eight years, OC Media has worked with fearless journalists from Azerbaijan — some of whom now face decades behind bars — to bring you the stories the regime is afraid will get out. Help us fuel Aliyev's fears — become an OC Media member today Become a member State-run media outlet Azertac has written that two ethnic Azerbaijanis were killed during Russian law enforcement raids in Yekaterinburg, with several others seriously injured and nine people arrested. Following this, Baku cancelled a number of Russia-related events and raided the offices of Sputnik-Azerbaijan as relations seemed to plunge to a new low. On 27 June, Azertac reported that the raids were in connection to alleged crimes committed decades ago. The two men killed were identified as brothers, Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov. Later, on 28 June, the Chargé d'Affaires of the Embassy of Russia in Azerbaijan, Pyotr Volokov, was summoned to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, which stated that it had lodged 'a strong protest' to the Russian side in response to the raids. The ministry added that it expects from Russia that 'the case will be investigated and all those responsible for the violence will be brought to the attention of the other side'. The Russian state-run media outlet TASS reported that on Sunday, a Yekaterinburg court remanded Ayaz Safarov, another brother and a defendant in murder cases from previous years, into custody. Safarov was among those arrested in the police raids. Another brother, Mazahir Safarov, was also one of those detained. The Russian media outlet wrote that the Safarovs and other defendants were allegedly part of an ethnic criminal group involved in a number of murders and attempted murders in Yekaterinburg in 2001, 2010, and 2011. 'Some suspects have already confessed and are cooperating with the investigation. Searches are being conducted at their places of residence. The issue of choosing a preventive measure in the form of detention is currently being decided', the media outlet wrote. Advertisement The bodies of Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, who were reportedly brutally beaten to death, have been handed over to their relatives. The pro-government media outlet wrote that earlier, the Consulate General of Azerbaijan in Yekaterinburg reported that the bodies were taken from the morgue of the Yekaterinburg Bureau of Forensic Medicine. Deteriorating relations Baku has reacted strongly to the incident, which appears to further damage an already tense relationship with Moscow. Azertac noted that 'in response to the targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence against Azerbaijanis based on their ethnicity', all cultural events planned in Azerbaijan involving Russian state and private entities have been cancelled. 'We sincerely regret the decisions taken', Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in response. Peskov added that Moscow believes that the measures taken by the Azerbaijani side are an 'exaggerated reaction' and that issues related to the actions of law enforcement agencies should not become a reason 'for such large-scale restrictions'. Peskov stressed that a separate conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on this matter was not planned. 'However, if necessary, such a dialogue can be organised in a short time. The Russian side declares its interest in continuing cooperation with Azerbaijan', Peskov said. Monday brought new developments in the deteriorating relations between Moscow and Baku, when Azerbaijani authorities raided the offices of the Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik-Azerbaijan in Baku, resulting in several detentions, two of whom were allegedly employees of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). In February, the Azerbaijani government ordered the suspension of the Sputnik-Azerbaijan, allowing one journalist to keep working in the country. Following this, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Rahman Mustafayev was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, which said it was 'in connection with Baku's unfriendly actions and the illegal detention of Russian journalists'.
Euronews
2 days ago
- Politics
- Euronews
Azerbaijan cancels Russian cultural events over deaths of two citizens
Azerbaijan has cancelled all cultural events planned by Russian state and private institutions in protest over the deaths of two Azerbaijanis after police raids in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, Azerbaijani officials said Sunday. Azerbaijan's Culture Ministry wrote on X that concerts, exhibitions, festivals and performances were cancelled on account of "the demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings and acts of violence committed by Russian law enforcement agencies against Azerbaijanis on ethnic grounds in Yekaterinburg." "Recently such cases have become systematic," it pointed out. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry demanded "an immediate investigation into the case and bringing those responsible for this unacceptable act of violence to justice as soon as possible". According to Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Russian law enforcement raided homes of Azerbaijani residents in the industrial city in Russia's Ural Mountains on Friday. Two Azerbaijanis were killed, it said, along with several others seriously injured and nine detained. The ministry on Saturday summoned the Russian Embassy's chargé d'affaires in Baku, Pyotr Volokovykh, demanding a full investigation and prosecution of those responsible. The victims were identified as Ziyaddin and Huseyn Safarov, both around 60 years old. Their brother, Sayfaddin Huseynli, told Azerbaijani public broadcaster ITV that the men were tortured to death "without any trial or investigation, despite their innocence." He described the raids as "savagery," claiming that others were beaten and subjected to electric shocks. "The so-called Russian law enforcement agencies broke into houses in the middle of the night, beat and took people away like animals," Huseynli said. The Azerbaijani government also announced the cancellation of a planned visit by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk. "The government of Azerbaijan does not consider it appropriate under the current circumstances for Overchuk or any other official representative of Russia to visit the country," state media reported. In a statement, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said it expected "that the matter will be investigated and all perpetrators of violence brought to justice as soon as possible." The bodies of the Safarov brothers will be transported to Azerbaijan on Monday, domestic media reported. Moscow-Baku relations strained Without commenting on the reported deaths, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Saturday that the raids formed part of an investigation into previously committed crimes. Zakharova said raids and detentions targeted Russian citizens of Azerbaijani descent. Ties between the two countries have been strained for months. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev declined an invitation to attend Russia's Victory Day parade in Moscow in May. In contrast, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha visited Baku later that month, signalling closer ties between Baku and Kyiv. Relations between Moscow and Baku cooled after an Azerbaijani airliner crashed in Kazakhstan in December, killing 38 of 67 people aboard. As exclusively reported by Euronews, investigations into the incident revealed that the Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was shot at by Russian air defence over Russia's Grozny and rendered uncontrollable by electronic warfare. Aliyev accused Russia of trying to "hush up" the incident for several days. Putin apologised to Aliyev for what he called a "tragic incident" but stopped short of acknowledging responsibility.
