Azerbaijan handed over to the Russian side evidence of torture and murder of representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora during detention in Yekaterinburg. The Russian Investigative Committee is conducting a separate investigation into these facts, Azerbaijani Prosecutor General Kyamran Aliyev said on 22 July.
According to him, within the framework of the criminal case initiated in Azerbaijan after the death of representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora in Yekaterinburg, the country’s authorities conducted expert examinations and confirmed that these people died “as a result of torture, beatings and serious bodily injuries”. Baku handed over the collected evidence to Moscow.
“The Russian side reported that the Investigative Committee is conducting a separate investigation into the violence. We hope that the opened criminal case on this matter will yield results,” the Prosecutor General added (quoted by Azerbaijani publication Report).
Despite the fact that Russia considers the victims its citizens, Baku does not recognise dual citizenship, so it considers them citizens of Azerbaijan and is investigating, Aliyev explained.
On 27 June, mass detentions of natives of Azerbaijan took place in Ekaterinburg: about 50 people were taken to the Investigative Committee to check their involvement in murders and attempted murders committed between 2001 and 2011.
Two of the main suspects, brothers Huseyn and Ziyaddin Safarov, died during the investigation. According to the version of the Russian investigation, one of them died of heart failure. The causes of death of the second are being established. Several other detainees, natives of Azerbaijan with Russian citizenship, were arrested. At least one of them appeared in court with signs of beating.
Safarovs’ bodies were transported to Azerbaijan, where a medical examination was conducted. It established, according to Baku’s statements, that the cause of the brothers’ death was severe post-traumatic shock caused by numerous bodily injuries.
The Azerbaijani authorities responded to the actions of Russian security forces by detaining more than 10 Russians in Baku (some of them showed signs of beating in the video shown), searching the Sputnik Azerbaijan editorial office and arresting two employees of the editorial office.