The Foreign Ministry in Baku summoned Russia’s chargé d’affaires, Pyotr Volokovykh, on Saturday to protest what it called the “brutal killing” of two Azerbaijanis during Friday’s raids. The ministry said several others were seriously injured and nine were arrested, The Moscow Times.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Volokovykh had “offered the necessary explanations” to Baku after he was summoned. The ministry said those arrested were Azerbaijani-born Russian citizens accused of “past crimes,” but it did not mention the deaths.
Police investigators in Yekterinberg said the raids targeted an “ethnic criminal group” linked to murders between 2001 and 2011. They claimed some of those who were arrested confessed to crimes, but gave no details on the number of arrests.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, later confirmed the two deaths during the police raids, saying the cause of death for one of the individuals appears to have been heart failure. Authorities said they were still trying to establish the cause of the second person’s death.
On Sunday, Azerbaijan’s Culture Ministry announced the cancellation of concerts, exhibitions and other events organized by Russian public and private groups. It cited what it described as “demonstrative targeted and extrajudicial killings” by Russian law enforcement based on ethnicity.
The Kremlin said it “sincerely regrets” the cancellation of Russian cultural programs in Azerbaijan.
RHM/
Your Comment