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Arif Hajili: â€œAfter Azerbaijani media reported about our detention, they changed the manner they treated usâ€

11 March 2014 12:50 (UTC +04:00)

Arif Hajili said the aim of their visit to Crimea was to support Crimean Tatars.

Arif Hajili noted that Baku-Rostov train was attacked by 10-12 civilians, including two policemen in Makhachkala.

“First, we were seriously checked in the territory of Russia. We were asked a lot of questions. In Makhachkala our train was attacked, they demanded us to leave the train. Later, we were taken to the police office nearby. At that time, APA’s correspondent called me, I told him we had been detained. But they did not allow us to go into details. I am grateful to APA, they reported about it and after Azerbaijani media reported about our detention, they changed the manner they treated us,” he said.

Arif Hajili said they underwent moral, though not physical pressure at the police office. According to him, speaking about Karabakh problem, Russian law-enforcement bodies defended Armenians’ position.

“They treated us brutally, but we did not undergo physical pressure. We were asked why we were going to Crimea. They spoke against US, Europe and Turkey. They also touched on Karabakh conflict, claimed that we held Armenians in captivity. We said it was Armenians who committed genocide, occupied our lands,” he said.

Hajili said the police attempted to bring drug charges against them. Later, they fined them for 500 rubles claiming they made a noise in the train.

“They demanded a written explanation, we paid the fine, but refused the write explanation. I was called to another room and told that we will be sent back after they launch criminal case on hooliganism. After that, they bought tickets for us and accompanied us in the train until we reached Derbent,” he said.

Speaking about the causes of their detention, Arif Hajili said the Russian government did it to prevent them from supporting the Crimean Tatars.