Nigar Samandar qizi Bagirova – believer Date of arrest: 15 August 2025 Charge: Articles 221.2.1 (Hooliganism committed by group of persons or repeatedly); 221.3 (Hooliganism committed with application of a weapon or subjects, used as the weapon) and 233 (Organization of actions promoting infringement of a social order or active participation in such actions) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic. On 16 August 2025, the Baku City Khazar District Court imposed a preventive measure in the form of deprivation of liberty against Nigar Bagirova for the period of 3 months during the preliminary investigation Place of detention: Pre-trial Detention Center № 1 at the Kyurdakhani settlement in Baku City Sabunchu District Conclusion: According to the official version of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Internal Affairs, on 15 August 2025, at noon, the police put an end to the attempt of a religious radical group to hold a mass religious ceremony at a place with heavy traffic and pedestrian flow in the Baku City Khazar District. They arrested six believers: Khoshgadam Quliyeva (born in 1975), Nigar Bagirova (born in 1987), Aytan Ibrahimova (born in 1984), Shahla Farajova (born in 1981), Sharqiya Sadigova (born in 1994), and Arzu Huseynova (born in 1973). It was stated that they “[had] 195 engaged in criminal activity, chanted slogans and appeals preaching religious hatred and enmity, and waved flags. It is indicated that they had failed to comply with the police officers' lawful orders, causing a conflict with the passers-by ", notably by attacking two local women who were crossing the street to inflict on them various injuries with their fists and feet. However, the journalists from the Meydan TV, a media outlet that supports opposition groups, managed to interview them and discovered that the women had actually been observing a traditional Shia memorial service called Arba'in, when Shias around the world commemorate the 40th day of Imam Hussein's death in 670. Since that time, Shiites around the world have been making pilgrimages to the city of Karbala in Iraq, where Hussein's tomb is located, or commemorating this event in their own countries. Hussain's suffering and death have become a symbol of self-sacrificing struggle for good against evil, for justice and truth against injustice and falsehood. In connection with Arba'in Day, three women, Khoshgadam Quliyeva, Sharqiya Sadigova and Arzu Huseynova, baked sweets, which along with the other believers, Nigar Bagirova, Aytan Ibrahimova and Shahla Farajova, they were handing out as donations. They also chanted slogans against injustice in Azerbaijan, accusing the President of the country, Ilham Aliyev, of being corrupted and condemned the police violence. They also chanted, ‘Freedom to Palestine!’ Right at that moment the police stormed in and arrested them. The police officers rudely ripped the headscarves off the believers’ heads and violently assaulted them. As Nigar Bagirova said, "We protested against the injustice, crimes in Terter, veterans' suicides, high prices in the country, and also against the government's withholding of child benefits. Ilham Aliyev is robbing our homeland, stealing our wealth; our people have been living below the poverty line." She further stated that Shahla Faradzhova and Aytan Ibrahimova, as well as one minor and two teenagers, had been detained together with her. "The police officers violently attacked us. I tried to calm down the child who was crying, but the police dragged all of us away and forcibly put in their car that took us to the police station. There, the police threatened us to strip and rape us." According to her, they were forced at gunpoint, to sign some documents that they were not allowed to read, “They threatened to tape my mouth shut with duct tape since I was protesting against their illegal activities. Then they forcibly pulled the hijab off my head and the head of the woman named Aytan.” Nigar Bagirova also claimed that her house had been searched right after the arrest, “There were about 20 police officers, including a black-masked investigator known as Anar. There was no defence lawyer during the search. There is a surveillance camera outside our house. They dismantled it as well as the connected modem, and shut off the electricity in the house. They confiscated all so called printed materials that they actually had brought with them, and then they showed a memory card as my personal property.” Bagirova also noted that her personal belongings such as books, tablet, and religious flags had been also confiscated. According to her, she was again taken to the Baku City Khazar District Detention Centre, and while on the way, she had been subjected to threats and insults by the man in mask named Seid, "After they were brought to the station, two female victims appeared and it was a face- to-face session. Allegedly, we had attacked those women. One of the them praised Ilham Aliyev. Introducing herself as a victim, that woman said that we had allegedly attacked her and her child. The other one said that when we supposedly attacked the woman and child, she protested, and then we attacked her as well." 196