Podcast | Roadblocks and acid lakes: an Azerbaijani village under siege

June 28, 2023 6:30 PM

The village of Soyudlu in western Azerbaijan was locked down by the police in late June after its residents protested environmental damage caused by a goldmine. The police’s response to the protests provoked outrage in Azerbaijan, with many activists criticising it for being disproportionate.

This week, we spoke to Roya Malikzada a lawyer at Ecobill, an Azerbaijani environmental group that has been providing legal aid to people in Soyudlu, Elmaddin Shamilzade, a journalist who was detained for his coverage of the protests, and Bahruz Samadov, a political scientist and PhD candidate at Charles University in Prague, about the protests, the police’s response, and the repercussions the incident might have on Azerbaijan.

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Screenshots of Azerbaijani state news agency Azertac’s coverage of Georgian politics and elections.

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