The Azerbaijan court has remanded eight Russian citizens in custody for four months. They are accused of drug smuggling from Iran and committing cyber crimes. Around ten Russian citizens were detained in Baku after two people died during the detention of Azerbaijanis in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The Azerbaijani side claims these deaths were a result of violence by police officers.
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Photos and videos circulated show some of the Russian citizens detained in Azerbaijan with bruises on their faces. According to the publication Kavkazsky Uzel, two Russian IT specialists have been identified among them: 40-year-old Anton Drachev and 30-year-old developer Dmitry Bezugly. They arrived in Azerbaijan no later than autumn 2022, though journalists could not ascertain their specific activities there. Russian media reports that another detainee is Aleksandr Vaysero, a resident of Yekaterinburg, who was in Azerbaijan on vacation.
Previously, the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan initiated a criminal case under the article of intentional murder against Russian police officers for the killing of two Azerbaijani citizens.
On the morning of June 27, representatives of the Azerbaijani diaspora were detained in Yekaterinburg. According to Russian authorities, they are suspected of murders committed in 2001, 2010, and 2011. As a result of the operation, brothers Ziyaddin Safarov, 55, and Huseyn Safarov, 60, died.
“Employees of the operational unit inflicted severe injuries on them. Ziyaddin Safarov died in the police vehicle on the same day, in the morning hours. [...] He was subjected to torture by Russian law enforcement agencies after being taken from his home. The Safarov brothers, Huseyn and Ziyaddin, died as a result of post-traumatic shock caused by these injuries," said Nemat Avazov, head of the investigative department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan, at a press conference.
Russian authorities deny the murder of the Safarov brothers. The Investigative Committee stated that, "according to preliminary data," one brother "died of heart failure, the cause of death of the second person is being established."
On June 30, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan conducted a search at the office of the pro-Kremlin Russian publication "Sputnik Azerbaijan" in Baku. Two Russian citizens were detained, and five were charged with criminal offenses. Criminal cases have been initiated against them under articles of illegal entrepreneurial activity and legalization of property obtained through criminal activities. On July 1, Azerbaijani media reported the detention of "two criminal groups consisting of Russian citizens." On the same day, the diplomatic agencies of Russia and Azerbaijan exchanged protest notes. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also demanded the release of the detained "Sputnik Azerbaijan" employees, Igor Kartavykh and Evgeny Belousov.
