AZE.US
A criminal case has been opened in Azerbaijan against the son of jailed religious figure Taleh Bagirzade after a 17-year-old girl suffered a broken nose during an altercation in Buzovna, according to local media reports and comments from officials and family members.
The case has drawn attention not only because of the alleged assault itself, but also because of the political sensitivity surrounding Bagirzade, the imprisoned head of the Muslim Unity Movement.
Arzuxan Alizade, deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on human rights, said the case was initiated because of the alleged act itself and not because the teenager is Bagirzade’s son.
Speaking to Pravda.az, Alizade said that if a complaint has been filed by the injured side and the facts indicate a possible offense, law enforcement agencies are obligated to investigate the matter and give it a legal assessment.
He said the process should not be influenced by who the suspect’s father is, whether he is in office, in prison, or connected to a politically sensitive case.
According to the account cited in Azerbaijani media, the incident took place during a volleyball game in the Khazar district. It is alleged that Muhammadhasan Bagirzade struck a girl in the face, breaking her nose. The girl’s relatives later appealed to law enforcement authorities.
APA reported on April 8 that a criminal case had been opened against Bagirzade’s son over allegations that he intentionally caused injury to a girl during the confrontation.
The family, however, disputes that version and says the case is being used as pressure against Taleh Bagirzade.
Leyla Ismayilzade, Bagirzade’s wife, confirmed that a criminal case had been opened, but described it as a “provocation.”
According to her account, the incident happened on April 7 at the sports ground of School No. 26 in Buzovna. She said the confrontation began after one student used profanity in front of girls, prompting an objection from her younger son, 15-year-old Muhammadhuseyn.
She said the situation escalated after another classmate arrived with his cousin and the argument continued. According to her, the girl involved repeated the same insult, and after a verbal exchange, the younger son pushed the pair. She said they then began hitting him.
Ismayilzade said her older son, Muhammadhasan, later stepped in after being told that his brother had been beaten. She claimed the girl struck him twice first, and that he hit back once in self-defense, with the punch landing on her nose and causing bleeding.
The family says the case should be viewed in the broader context of what it describes as pressure on religious believers and as a warning directed at Taleh Bagirzade himself.
Bagirzade was arrested in November 2015 after the Nardaran events, during which seven people, including two police officers, were killed. In 2017, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges including terrorism, illegal possession of weapons, and other serious offenses. He has denied the accusations and says he was jailed on political orders.
The case involving his son has now moved beyond a schoolyard fight and into a wider dispute over criminal accountability, political context, and whether a legally sensitive case can be separated from the identity of the family at its center.