Sunday, December 29

100,000 manat for a man's life

His name was Zaur Hasanov. He was a war veteran who provided for his family managing a cafe in Baku. On December 25th, Hasanov set himself ablaze in front of the Confederation of Trade Unions. He committed this act because his cafe was appropriated by a government crony- Sattar Mehbaliyev, chairman of the trade union. The cafe was taken away, demolished, and the veteran was refused any compensation for his property. 

Hasanov died today (his body suffered 3rd degree burns and was in a critical condition with 65% of his body severely damaged by the fire) at a local hospital leaving behind a devastated family of five. 

It was only after a public outcry that the government finally reacted to the case with Mehbaliyev himself promising to pay a lump sum of AZN100,000 to Hasanov's family in addition to a monthly compensation of 1,500manats. 

Mehbaliyev claims to have all the paperwork approved by the court (hmm... which courts? Azerbaijani courts? It must have been so hard for Mehbaliyev to get this "legal" paperwork in order!). 

Well Mr. Mehbaliyev, if you wouldn't have evicted the man in the first place and taken away his business from him, and showed at least a tat bit of respect to a war veteran, none of this would have happened.


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