According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, police operations led to the detention of Abdulla Ibrahimli, Ibrahim Asadli and other individuals whose names were not disclosed.
However, lawyer Ruslan Aliyev stressed in statements to Meydan TV that Azerbaijani law does not prohibit communist ideology, Soviet symbols or the public display of the USSR and Azerbaijan SSR flags. The case became widely known after videos and photographs of the march circulated on social media.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs claimed that the detained individuals had “rented an office with the financial support of another state, operated as a group and held regular meetings,” attempting to portray them as members of some dangerous underground organization.
Aliyev strongly rejected these insinuations, emphasizing that such accusations have no legal basis:
“The statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs creates the impression that the detainees belong to a terrorist or extremist organization. Legally, however, this is completely unfounded. In Azerbaijan, communist ideology, the Communist Party and Soviet symbols are not banned. The Constitution guarantees freedom of thought under Article 47 and freedom of assembly under Article 49. Within this framework, expressing political views and organizing peaceful marches are protected rights. Police intervention and the opening of criminal cases against these individuals contradict both the law and the Constitution.”
The lawyer further denounced the arrests as politically motivated and discriminatory:
“The detainees neither formed a radical organization nor possessed banned literature. Presenting them in this manner, while exposing details of their private lives, constitutes political intolerance and a defamatory campaign. Similar methods are regularly used against political forces opposed to the ruling New Azerbaijan Party (YAP). These are clear examples of political discrimination.”
This is not the first controversy in Azerbaijan surrounding Soviet symbols and historical memory. Earlier this year, Saleh Samedov, chairman of the Council of Elders in the Imishli district, was dismissed from his position after attending an event where the USSR flag and the “George ribbon” were displayed. He was later arrested on embezzlement charges, accusations he firmly denied, pointing out that multiple flags had been present during the event.
The latest detentions once again expose the growing pressure faced by communists and progressive voices in Azerbaijan, despite the fact that communist ideology and Soviet symbols remain fully legal under the country’s own legislation.