Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Alizadeh / The Karabakh Liberation Organization (KLO) has appealed to court because of pressure placed on its members by law enforcement bodies, Akif Nagi, the chairman of the KLO, said.
KLO's members were put under illegal pressure by officials of the Azerbaijani Interior Minister on 4 and 23 September. The KLO was established in Baku on 28 January 2000, with the aim of a public struggle for the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Akif Nagi, a Ph.D candidate in history, was elected Chairman of the KLO at the Constituent Assembly of the organization.
The KLO unites representatives of the intelligentsia, refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), old and young people as well as former military soldiers. The organization has 74 departments in the regions, cities and refugee camps in Azerbaijan. Its representatives are working in Turkey, Iran, Russia, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Estonia and Iraq. The KLO has more than 10,000 members.
KLO members were planning to hold a protest action against the participation of the Armenian general Ayk Arturan at a meeting of the Foreign Ministers Council on 6 September.
Furthermore, KLO members protested against the participation of Armenian sportsmen at the World Championships in Baku from 17 to 23 September.
The chairman and other members of the organization were detained on 6 September. Police of Narimanov District Police Station searched the headquarters of the organization and seized postcards and slogans. The police at Binagadi District Police Station arrested Nagi on 15 September. Nagi was released after several hours.
KLO's chairman denounced the indifference of the opposition and NGOs concerning the arrival of the Armenian Interior Minister to Azerbaijan.