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Activist Barred From Leaving Azerbaijan Condemns Release Of Sex Video


Azerbaijani opposition activist Said Nuri says he has done nothing illegal.
Azerbaijani opposition activist Said Nuri says he has done nothing illegal.

A sexually explicit video showing former activist Said Nuri has been posted on the Internet in what Nuri says is an attempt by the Azerbaijani authorities to discredit him.

Nuri, a U.S. citizen who was prevented from leaving his native Azerbaijan last week following a visit there, said on Twitter on September 11 that he has done nothing illegal and that woman he is shown with in the video is his girlfriend.

A former deputy chief of the pro-opposition youth group Yeni Fikir (New Opinion), Nuri left Azerbaijan several years ago after a treason investigation was launched against his organization.

Azerbaijani officials barred him from leaving the country on September 4 and questioned him in connection with an undisclosed investigation.

The Caspian Sea country's government has been criticized in the past for using intimate and illegally obtained videos to discredit opposition activists and journalists, including RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service correspondent Khadija Ismayilova.

RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.

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