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Detainee from Israel: “I was lucky that this happened to me in Azerbaijan”

Politics Materials 19 March 2018 11:53 (UTC +04:00)
Dalia Hadad from Beersheba, Israel, returned to Israel more than three weeks after being detained in Azerbaijan for entering that country with bullets in her luggage.
Detainee from Israel: “I was lucky that this happened to me in Azerbaijan”

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 19

By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:

Dalia Hadad from Beersheba, Israel, returned to Israel more than three weeks after being detained in Azerbaijan for entering that country with bullets in her luggage, said an article published in The Jerusalem Post.

Dalia Hadad acknowledged that she was fortunate her destination was Azerbaijan. Instead of having to wait in a jail cell as the episode unfolded, she was free to come and go as she wished, with the exception that she could not leave the country, said the article.

“I was lucky that this happened to me in Azerbaijan,” she said, adding that though the ordeal was laced with a great deal of uncertainty, she met “a lot of good people,” both Israelis and local residents who helped her through it.

Hadad said that the five M16 bullets found in her luggage when she arrived at Baku’s airport belonged to her daughter, who used the bag when she was in basic training in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

Hadad said she was treated well by the Azerbaijani authorities. She had gone to Baku for a weekend but ended up having to stay for 23 days.

In previous cases, in countries such as Egypt, India, and Thailand, the authorities have not been as forgiving for this type of infraction, and Israelis caught with bullets in their luggage have sat in jail.

In recent days, another Israeli, Elli Avraham, was finally allowed to leave Azerbaijan after being detained for over two months for accidentally having five bullets from his personal weapon in one of his bags.

Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a statement welcoming the return of the two Israelis and saying their release was made possible thanks to the efforts of the Israeli embassy in Baku and the authorities in Azerbaijan, a country with which the ministry said Israel has “special relations.”

“It was this good relationship that allowed the citizens to stay freely in Azerbaijan until the completion of their proceedings, despite the fact that carrying bullets is a criminal offense under local law,” the statement said. Both were fined.

The statement emphasized that taking any type of weaponry into a foreign country – even if done unwittingly – is prohibited and could result in detention and criminal proceedings.

“The Foreign Ministry reiterates the importance of every traveler checking their bags carefully before going abroad,” the statement read.

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