In Azerbaijan's administrative district of Imishli (İmişli), scores of residents have been detained, internet speed throttled, and, according to reports by local media, all entry and exit points to the town are under heavy control by internal troops dispatched to the area. This followed a protest in reaction to an accident reported on January 18, in which four schoolchildren were struck by a police car following a collision with a civilian car.
At the time of writing this story, three of the children — schoolgirls Zumrud Miraliyeva, Mahbuba Alizada and Ayan Mammadova — have died. In footage shared by the local media, scores of residents surrounded the police car, dismantling it. They then marched to the local police department. The ministry of the interior issued arrest warrants on hooliganism charges. The ministry also released a video of the accident, which significantly slowed down the speed of the police car. A criminal investigation was opened against the driver of the civilian car, but so far, no measures have been taken against the officer behind the wheel of the police car. These actions were criticized by the opposition activists and the public.
“I have lost my sunshine. Everyone was always so pleased with my Ayan. She was loved by her teachers, she was an excellent student,” said Taleh Mammadov, the father of 11-year-old Ayan Mammadova, who died immediately as a result of the fatal accident. He was talking to Abzas Media in a video interview. The child's injuries were so severe that the relative who went to the morgue could hardly recognize her. Out of the four children hit, only one has thus far survived, but he remains in critical condition.
Mammadov also told Abzas Media that the internet and mobile communication were down, leaving residents unable to access the internet, make phone calls, or send text messages. He said the police car was speeding on the road where the accident happened and demanded that perpetrators be found and punished, even though nothing could replace his daughter's loss.
Some people compared the protests with previous regional actions, such as the most recent one in the village of Soyudlu in 2023, in Ganja in 2018, and Ismayilli in 2013, to name a few. What all of these protests had in common was residents’ frustrations with the arbitrariness of local authorities and their policies. They were also violently suppressed, with scores of residents facing arrests and detentions.
Arrests and detentions
In Imishli, some 100 residents have reportedly faced arrests. While many have been released, at least 14 people are facing criminal charges of hooliganism and have been sent into a three-month pretrial detention. Several others received administrative detentions, reported Meydan TV. Separately, the police arrested the 17-year-old driver of the civilian car and have charged him on several counts, including driving without a license, violating traffic rules, causing the death of now-three children, and fleeing the accident scene. “The entrance and exit to the city are under police control,” said one resident who spoke to OC Media on condition of anonymity, adding that the number of dispatched police officers outnumbered the local residents.
Speaking about arrests of local residents, the leader of the opposition Popular Front Party, Ali Karimli, said that by arresting these men, the state was threatening its own people. “They have really divided the people into their people and the rest. They are openly telling the people that if they dare to hit even a dismantled car that belongs to the state, it constitutes a heavier crime than our school-children getting killed,” wrote Karimli on Facebook.
Another member of the Popular Front Party, Seymur Hezi, told Meydan TV there was nothing surprising in the way residents responded to the news of the accident. “In a country where people have no trust in the justice system, their anger is this high,” Hezi told the outlet.
Nasimi Mammadli, a political commentator, shared Hezi's views, adding in an interview with Turan News Agency, “Citizens understand that the majority of the problems they face are due to poor governance. In the districts, there is administrative arbitrariness, lawlessness, unemployment, poverty, social inequality, and a deep chasm between the authorities and the general population.”
In an interview with local media, the mother of one of the children who was killed called on all responsible government institutions to release all those who have been detained so that “my baby can rest in peace.”
Internet throttling
Residents first noticed internet throttling following the accident. It is unclear whether access has been fully restored at the time of writing this article. Among those detained, however, were the residents and members of political opposition parties who shared information about the developments via social media problems.
Qulu Mammadli, a member of the local branch of the opposition Popular Front Party, was summoned by the authorities on January 19. In an interview with OC Media, Mammadli said that after posting about the internal troops entering the town in the afternoon, he was forced to go in for questioning, and he was also forced to remove the video footage he shared on Facebook earlier that day. Other party members, including Sarvan Ahmadov, were also briefly detained, questioned and forced to remove social media posts, according to reporting by Meydan TV.
A member of the opposition Musavat party, Alikram Khurshidov, was handed a 10-day administrative detention over his social media posts about the accident.
Residents who were involved in dismantling the police car and yelled “resign” slogans were treated worse, reported local service for Radio Liberty. Residents who spoke to Azadliq Radio said several were hospitalized as a result of sustained injuries at the police station. While there has been no official comment on the allegations of torture and ill-treatment by the police, previously documented cases of torture leave little room to doubt the residents’ accounts.
The government of Azerbaijan has throttled internet access before and has deployed an arsenal of surveillance technology to keep tabs on its citizens. An annual report on internet freedoms by Freedom House ranked the country “not free” in its most recent country report.
Some officials accused the opposition of politicizing the accident. In an interview with pravda.az, member of the parliament Siyavush Novruzov said, “It was in the character of the radical opposition to politicize the road accident in Imishli.” Another member of the parliament, Elman Nasirov, defended Azerbaijani police saying in an interview with pravda.az: “I address all those anti-Azerbaijani elements. Never forget, Azerbaijani police always fulfilled its obligations with honor, and served to protect the territorial integrity and the country's security.”
As for the police officer who was in the car at the time of the accident, no measures have been publicly announced, and the ministry of the interior has not shared any information about the identity of the officer.