Azeri man dies after self-immolation protest
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 29 December 2013 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Azeri man dies after self-immolation protest, 29 December 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52e65a67f.html [accessed 25 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 29.12.2013 16:07
By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service
Zaur Hasanov (right) lay in a Baku hospital for four days, being treated for burns to 70 percent of his body, after he set himself on fire on December 25 to protest his alleged victimization by a lawmaker and senior pro-government trade-union official.
BAKU – A 42-year-old Azerbaijani man who lit himself on fire in front of a government building in Baku to protest perceived injustice at the hands of a senior pro-government official has died.
Zaur Hasanov's body was handed over to his family on December 29, after he succumbed to injuries from his act of self-immolation late the previous day.
Hasanov lit himself on fire in front of his children on December 25 in a desperate act that prompted calls for protests to demonstrate public anger over the case.
Dozens of youth activists tried to hold a protest in downtown Baku after a funeral for Hasanov, who was a veteran of the country's Nagorno-Karabakh war with Armenia in the early 1990s. They shouted slogans like "Stop killing our veterans!" and "Don't turn the army into a morgue!"
Police quickly moved to disperse them, detaining some.
Trying to calm the public, senior members of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party had visited Hasanov in the hospital, where he was being treated for burns to around 70 percent of his body.
Hasanov's relatives told RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service that his small restaurant was demolished in 1995 on orders from Sattar Mehbaliyev, a ruling-party lawmaker who also chairs the pro-government Confederation of Trade Unions.
Hasanov had battled for nearly two decades to receive compensation and to rebuild his restaurant.
The self-immolation – which was captured in graphic video posted to the Internet – eventually prompted the confederation to pledge around 100,000 manats ($127,000) in compensation and to provide financial support for Hasanov's wife and five children.
Hasanov's relatives said his modest veteran's pension of around $125 a month wasn't enough to support his family.
An adviser to President Ilham Aliyev said the president was "disturbed" at the incident.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
