BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 14
Trend:
German law enforcement agencies continue operational measures to detain a criminal network consisting of former activists of Azerbaijan’s opposition parties, Trend reports Nov. 14.
As a result of an investigation by the German police, it became known that seven activists of opposition parties created a united criminal group in Germany with the aim of migrant trafficking. It is reported that these people illegally transported 20 Azerbaijani migrants to Europe and received from 3,000 euros to 10,000 euros for this, Azerbaijani activists wrote in social networks.
By the decision of the German judicial authorities, Chairman of the Musavat party’s European Coordinating Council Ilham Hasan, Deputy Chairman of the Coordinating Council Mehdi Khalilbayli, the Musavat party activists Abdin Javadov, Rashad Mammadov and Elshan Abdullayev, as well as former head of correctional institution of Azerbaijan’s penitentiary system Elchin Akbarov have been arrested. Among those arrested is also former head of the non-governmental organization Alovsat Aliyev - brother of one of the opposition leaders, former MP Sabir Rustamkhanli.
In respect of the arrested, a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of six months was chosen.
According to German media, the Federal Police raided 38 apartments and commercial properties. The lawsuit on behalf of the prosecutor Osnabruck was directed against the smuggling of foreigners from Eastern Europe, a federal police spokesman in Hanover said.
As many as 510 police officers took part in the operation in Lower Saxony, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate. During the searches, police found documents, media, big amounts of money and weapons.
The criminal group allegedly attracted workers from Ukraine in order to illegally transfer them to companies through its own agency in Germany. Reportedly, the criminals gave fake EU passports to temporary workers and helped them register in authorities and insurance companies. Entry and stay were formalized on a tourist visa in order to avoid other necessary residence permits.
The German Federal Police reported that the criminals also managed shelters where they placed workers near their workplaces.
