Member of the opposition Popular Front party, Zaur Usubov, was arrested on February 21 and sentenced to 25 days in administrative detention according to reporting by Turan News Agency. The activist was officially charged with an all too common article – resisting police.
Popular Front said, Usubov, was arrested over critical of the authorities’ social media posts, and that the charges leveled against the member are bogus.
According to Turan News Agency, Usubov is the sixth party member arrested this year [2023] so far. Five of them, including Usubov, were handed administrative detention while another member is facing criminal charges while the investigation is ongoing.
Police in Azerbaijan is accustomed to resorting to physical measures against civic activists who are critical of the authorities online. As documented by Az-Net Watch, there have been scores of similar examples in the past.