On 13 November, seven Azerbaijani citizens were detained in six German states during raids in more than 38 homes and work places, reported report.az.

The European Bureau of Report stated that the federal courts,  decided that the detained members of a criminal gang suspected of migrant trafficking in Germany will be remanded in custody for 6 months.

Persons sentenced to pre-trial detention were:

1. Elchin Akbarov - Former Chief of Pre-trial detention facilities No. 9 and 14 of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice;

2. Ilham Hasan - Chairman of the European Coordination Center of the Musavat Party (ECC Musavat), Former Chief Executive of Kalbajar District,

3. Mehdi Khalilbeyli - Member of Musavat Party, Deputy Chairman of ECC Musavat,

4. Abdin Javadov – Member of ECC Musavat,

5. Alovsat Aliyev - head of the Integration Center "Legat", Former Police Chief,

6. Rashad Mammadov - driver for Mehdi Khalilbeyli

7. Elshan Abdullayev - Member of Musavat Party

German police launched an operation against a group of Azerbaijanis involved in migrant trafficking on 12 November. Federal Criminal Police raided more than 38 homes and work places in the federal states of Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Rhineland-Palatinate.

During the inspection of the homes of detained Azerbaijani citizens, a large number of national passports of the Republic of Azerbaijan, membership cards of various political parties, references, stamps of the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan, as well as a total of € 21,000 in cash were seized. During the investigations it was established that the Azerbaijani criminal gang previously provided 20 Azerbaijani citizens with false documents in return for €3,000 and for €10,000 helped them to come to Germany illegally. Of those arrested, Aliyev left for Germany in 2015 with his family. He established the Leqat Integration Center in Dusseldorf, Germany, providing legal services to migrants and immigrants living in the country.

Officials from the Musavat party responded on the detentions. Musavat spokesman Mustafa Hajibayli said that the detention of the party’s head of the European Coordination Center, Ilham Hasan, is not true. He also said that a number of other detainees’ affiliation to Musavat, whose names are mentioned in social networks, is also not confirmed. 

Leader of the Civic Solidarity Party Sabir Rustamkhanli has commented on his brother Alovsat Aliyev’s detention by German police on organizing illegal migration. According to him, the German government suspected Alovsat Aliyev of organizing illegal migration of Azerbaijani citizens to Germany: “However, Alovsat Aliyev dealt with nothing illegal. He just helped Azerbaijani citizens who are moving to Germany. And this is something which is in favour of our citizens,” he said.

Most of the detained Azerbaijani citizens are members of the opposition Musavat party in Azerbaijan. The Musavat party is the oldest political party in Azerbaijan. It was formed in 1911 as a small, secret underground organization, which was working for the prosperity and political unity of the Muslim and Turkic-speaking world. In 1992 the party was re-established. Musavat is a member European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ALDE), which is the liberal-democratic faction in the European parliament. The ALDE member parties consider Musavat’s membership with the reserve, as the party is more committed to Turkic nationalism rather than liberalism. The party has alleged that the Azerbaijani government has been seized by leading politicians of Kurdish, Talysh, Armenian or other ethnic groups of non-Turkic origin.