Details added: first version posted on November 1, 21:02
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 1. Azerbaijan's State Security Service has exposed an illegal armed group consisting of Azerbaijani citizens, secretly established under the control of the Iranian special services by inculcating radical religious ideas, the service told Trend on November 1.
The State Security Service is implementing complex investigative measures related to such actions as the secret involvement of Azerbaijani citizens in military exercises outside the country by Iranian special services, their financing, keeping them in their sphere of influence by blackmail and other violent methods in order to use them against the state security of Azerbaijan.
As a result of the operational and investigative measures, it was established that Tohid Ibrahimbayli, Rovshan Asadov, Orkhan Mammadov, Elshad Hajiyev and other persons towards whom, for similar crimes, by a court decision, a preventive measure was chosen in 2018 with their putting on the international wanted list, and who are hiding in Iran, were instructed to lead the above mentioned illegal armed group.
Over the past period, Azerbaijani citizens, who mainly had a conviction for various crimes and consider themselves members of an organization called the ‘Movement for Muslim Unity’, with the help of the illegal armed group, crossed through the territory of third countries to the city of Tehran.
They were instructed to maintain confidentiality of contacts and conspiracy, given religious nicknames, presented with forged documents on military cargo planes, and taken to the Syrian city of Damascus. In Syria, they were involved in military exercises, where they were taught the rules for the use of various firearms and combat tactics, each participant in these exercises was given various amounts of money after issuing receipts.
During the operational-search activities, 19 citizens of Azerbaijan, whose participation in military exercises of illegal armed formations was established, were brought to the investigation, numerous evidences were found about an illegal armed formation and military exercises organized by it, as well as various books and video materials, propagandizing radical, religious-extremist views against the idea of modern development and a secular state, illegally brought to Azerbaijan and banned in the country, were found and confiscated.
Iskandar Huseynov, Tural Hagverdiyev, Eltun Shukurov and others previously convicted in the criminal case were detained and prosecuted under Articles 12.1, 279.1 (participation in illegal armed groups) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
Besides, materials were found about various instructions of Ruhulla Akhundzade, living in Iran, and other persons to the group members.
Orkhan Asadov, one of those who recruited the group members to participate in military exercises, was arrested while attempting a terrorist attack on the territory of a third country.
During the investigation, reasonable suspicions were established that Fagan Mammadov, who also took part in the mentioned military exercises, organized the distribution of T-shirts with religious slogans, which were delivered to Azerbaijan by a car of the Iranian Embassy, to participants of the rallies planned in some regions of the country.
It was established that representatives of the above-mentioned special services blackmailed the Azerbaijani citizens with a video of the military exercises, in which they participated in order to keep them under their influence, after discords between them due to justification of the Armenian armed groups’ aggressive acts.
Currently, complex operational-search activities are ongoing.
The State Security Service emphasized that the most stringent measures will be taken against the Azerbaijani citizens involved in any illegal armed groups, and that these citizens face serious criminal liability.
Besides, the service warned them of the need to timely inform the country's security agencies about any form of influence of foreign special services.