BAKU -- A court in Baku has charged a member of the Azerbaijani civic youth movement N!DA with drug possession.
Azerbaijan’s Interior Ministry said on May 12 that police had found more than 1 kilogram of heroin in Bayram Mammadov’s apartment and nearly 3 grams of heroin on him.
Mammadov was placed in pretrial detention for four months until further investigation.
Another N!DA member, Giyasaddin Ibrahim, who was detained together with Mammadov, is facing similar charges.
Both activists went missing on May 10 when police reportedly detained them. They were purportedly involved in writing graffiti on a statue of former President Heydar Aliyev in Baku ahead of Flower Day on May 10, which celebrates the late leader.
Flower Day celebrations were introduced in 2009 as part of the countrywide celebration of Heydar Aliyev’s birthday.
Other N!DA members have previously been charged with drug possession.
