BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. The halting of the criminal case against three Armenian soccer players, who previously vandalized the Azerbaijani flag, shows the humanistic position of the Azerbaijani state, the Head of the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General's Office, Nemat Zamanov, said on Instagram, Trend reports.
He noted that no ethnic groups living in Azerbaijan are discriminated against, and everyone has equal rights.
"It was taken into account that these persons had not previously committed crimes and also sincerely repented. Previously, considering that they spread footage of their actions on internet resources and posted prohibited information online, an administrative sentence of 10 days of imprisonment was imposed on them," Zamanov added.
After the end of the 10-day punishment term for these persons, they were released and deported from Azerbaijan.
Earlier, on August 28, three Armenians were detained at the Lachin border checkpoint after mocking the Azerbaijani flag.
Back in 2021, some media outlets and various social networks circulated video recordings of Armenian soccer players committing insulting actions against the Azerbaijani State Flag.
In this regard, the General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan initiated a criminal case under Articles 283.2.3 (incitement of national, racial, social, or religious hatred and enmity committed by an organized group) and 324 (insulting actions against the State Flag or the State Emblem of Azerbaijan) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The investigation of this case was entrusted to the Investigation Department of the Prosecutor's Office.