Saturday, November 23

Not enough, never enough

We all know by now, that Azerbaijani authorities have a mind of their own- they come after freedom fighters, proponents of free speech, advocates of rights, opposition, youth- whoever they deem "unfit" to their typical soldier. Not only do they come after them but they sentence them under false pretenses- hooligans, drug possession, illegal arms possession, you name it. But when I read today of an underground theater shut down in Baku I realized once again- there is never a limit to what our authorities want, it is simply never enough for them! On November 23rd, the local police shut down the basement where an independent "Oda" theater recently moved. According to this article, police informed the theater actors that the local residents of the building complained of loud noise overheard during the practices. While its actors were released after giving their statements at the police station, the keys to the theater remained with the police.

So now we can add independent theaters too to the long list of "disliked" professions... I wonder how these things are decided? Someone gets up on a wrong foot in the morning, and after a short eeny, meeny, miny, moe game, a decision is made. Today it was the theater. Tomorrow it will be someone else. 

Not only has the police violated a number of constitutional provisions- private property protection, freedom to recreate, personal freedoms and more but it remains to be seen what will come out of this- probably not much. The theater will remain closed, and its actors will have to think of a new place, and maybe even a new name. 

The unlimited power will do this to you... Eventually you lose track of reality and yourself.



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