MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) – Police in Azerbaijan broke up a picket Friday in front of the Russian Embassy held by a group angered by what it says was the rough treatment by Russian police of an Azerbaijani citizen suspected of murder.
Orkhan Zeinalov was charged with murder Friday for allegedly stabbing a 25-year-old man to death in south Moscow, in a killing that sparked violent and nationalist-tinged protests in the Russian capital.
Members of the International Diaspora Center gathered in front of the embassy in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, to complain that Zeinalov had been mistreated while being detained.
Police officers forced demonstrators to disperse without explanation.
Russian television showed police officers kicking a handcuffed Zeinalov and calling him a killer before throwing him bleeding into a police van during his detention Tuesday. Zeinalov was later shown being frog-marched before Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry called Thursday for Moscow to respect Zeinalov’s legal rights and said his case should not be politicized. The ministry said it was unacceptable to mistreat Zeinalov or call him a criminal under his legal rights to presumption of innocence.
Zeinalov, who pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Moscow city court, will stay behind bars until a hearing on December 10.
