BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 1. Azerbaijan has sent a note of protest to Russia, Spokesperson of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada said in response to the local media inquiry regarding the meeting of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Azerbaijan Rahman Mustafayev at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trend reports.
According to Hajizada, first of all, during the meeting of Mustafayev at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a note verbal on the protest of Azerbaijan was presented to the Russian side regarding the murder and injury of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, among whom were both the citizens of Azerbaijan and Russia, as a result of beating with particular cruelty, in serious violation of the legal norms.
"A firm protest was also expressed against the use of torture and degrading treatment by Russian law enforcement agencies during the interrogation of our compatriots.
It was noted that these actions of law enforcement agencies were a violation of the legal norms of the Russian Federation and internationally recognized fundamental human rights and freedoms.
At the same time, it was noted that the ethnic intolerance demonstrated against Azerbaijanis during the organization and conduct of the raids, as well as the coverage of such cases in the Russian media, is of serious concern.
It was noted that the illegal actions of the Russian law enforcement agencies and the murder and serious injury of our compatriots caused an extremely negative public reaction in the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The Russian side was demanded to conduct a thorough and objective investigation of these attacks, as well as take urgent measures to bring the perpetrators to justice based on the current legislation of the Russian Federation.
The Ambassador has also conveyed our country’s position regarding the measures taken at the office of “Sputnik-Azerbaijan,” which is presented as a branch of the International News Agency “Rossiya segodnya.”
The operational and search measures taken by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the office are fully consistent with the legislation of our country and international obligations.
As is known, on 12 February this year, the head of the Baku branch of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise “Rossiya Segodnya” international information agency was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and it was brought to their attention that there was no legal basis for their operation as a branch and representative office in our country, and a notification was submitted to suspend the branch’s activities within 3 days. Despite this, the citizens of the Russian Federation, whose accreditation of the said branch was revoked, and the branch continued to operate illegally.
As noted in the information of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a criminal case has been initiated under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code in connection with the said illegal activity, and investigative measures are being continued.
In this regard, it was brought to the attention that there is no basis for the discontent of the Russian side, and they were called for non-interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan.
It was stated that, unlike the Russian law enforcement agencies’ actions, the measures of the Azerbaijani side and the manner in which they were implemented are completely legal.
In general, it was noted that the said activities and actions carried out by Russia contradict the bilateral relations between the two countries," Hajizada added.
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