Azeri security forces arrest a protester during an anti-government rally in downtown Baku. (file photo)
A jailed Azeri journalist says he was arrested in May 2012 and then transferred to the Israeli Embassy in Baku, where he was tortured by Israeli guards.
Nejat Aliyev, the editor-in-chief of the independent news website Azadxeber, was arrested in downtown Baku on charges of possession of weapons and illegal drugs.
His lawyer, Anar Gasimli, said Aliyev recounted his ordeal in the Israeli Embassy during his trial, which was held behind closed doors.
Aliyev described how he was severely beaten at the local police station before being taken to the Israeli Embassy, where one of the staffers asked if he was Osama bin Laden.
Aliyev’s colleagues disputed the charges, saying they were leveled in retaliation for his journalism and noting that Azadxeberâ„¢s critical reporting on the government’s religious policies could also have been a factor.
Gasimli said his client had been tortured in custody to force him to say he had drugs in his possession, and added that the police had threatened to plant illicit drugs in the journalistâ„¢s apartment and press “more serious” charges against him.
The Israeli Embassy in Baku later issued a statement denying the allegations and saying the embassy had nothing to do with the detention of an Azeri journalist.
Baku established close relations and cooperation with Tel Aviv in 1992, becoming one of the few Muslim majority countries to forge bilateral, strategic, and economic relations with the Israeli regime.
MRS/HGL
This article originally appeared on: Press TV