The anti-communist authoritarianism of the Azerbaijani regime has once again revealed its true face. A court in Baku has sentenced four individuals to prison merely for attempting to organize a march carrying Soviet flags and promoting communist ideas!
Abdulla Ibrahimli and Ibrahim Asadli were each sentenced to two years' imprisonment, while Elchin Bayramli and Mehman Zeynalov received 18-month prison terms. The four were prosecuted under Article 233 of Azerbaijan's Criminal Code following their detention by the Ministry of Internal Affairs after a planned march in November last year.
The latest prison sentences are the culmination of a crackdown that began months ago. In May, Azerbaijani authorities arrested several communist activists after they attempted to organize a march in Baku carrying the flags of the Soviet Union and the Azerbaijan SSR. The detainees were accused of "propagating communist ideology" and organizing an unauthorized public gathering, while state authorities sought to portray communist political activity as a criminal offense
The imprisonment of people for peacefully expressing their political beliefs and displaying communist symbols constitutes yet another example of the systematic anti-communism promoted by the Aliyev regime. In this respect, Azerbaijan is fully aligned with the anti-communist policies pursued by numerous bourgeois governments across Europe and Asia, where communist parties are outlawed, communist symbols are criminalized, and communists are persecuted in an attempt to erase the revolutionary legacy of the twentieth century and suppress the struggle against capitalist exploitation.
The imprisonment of people for peacefully expressing their political beliefs and displaying communist symbols constitutes yet another example of the systematic anti-communism promoted by the Aliyev regime. In this respect, Azerbaijan is fully aligned with the anti-communist policies pursued by numerous bourgeois governments across Europe and Asia, where communist parties are outlawed, communist symbols are criminalized, and communists are persecuted in an attempt to erase the revolutionary legacy of the twentieth century and suppress the struggle against capitalist exploitation.
