""What I saw was traumatic for me, I can't get it out of my mind. When I close my eyes, I remember the faces of the police like a nightmare. Even though I begged to go to the toilet several times, they wouldn't let me in. In that cold, without a jacket, I peed on my pants, and the urine froze on me.""
""We know the perpetrators. The system that has ignored our rights for years, that does not prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the legislation, that has ousted the LGBTQ+ community from their places and forced them into invisibility, is the main culprit of this violence,""
""I was there too, there were 106 of us,""
On 27 December, police detained 106 people at Labyrinth nightclub in Baku and held them for more than 12 hours outside in freezing conditions without adequate clothing, water, toilet access, or phone calls. Detainees were allegedly pressured to testify against one another and officers reportedly demanded bribes for release while insulting family members who sought information. Some detainees described traumatic physical and psychological effects from the detention and exposure. Homosexuality has been legal in Azerbaijan since 2000, but legal protections against discrimination remain minimal and the country ranks near the bottom in Europe for LGBTQ+ rights.
Read at PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]