Baku-based activist and artist İlkin Huseynov has been unreachable since yesterday, shortly after he set up the ‘Let Leyli Go to School’ project, which sought to organise tutoring for those boycotting school amid hijab ban protests. It is not clear whether any pupils have received tutoring from the project yet.
The initiative’s website and Instagram page were inaccessible on Thursday morning.
According to a X post from another activist Javid Agha, unidentified individuals arrived at Huseynov’s home on Izzat Nabiyev Street at around 16:00 and the activist left the house with them. His phone has reportedly been switched off since then, and his whereabouts remain unknown. Agha also noted that he received a notification indicating that a new device had been added to Huseynov’s Facebook Messenger account.
‘I had sent him a message on Facebook Messenger, and a short while ago I saw the notification: “Huseynov Ilkin added a new device to this conversation”. It appears that his account may have been compromised. We are worried about Ilkin’, he wrote.
There has been no official information so far confirming whether the activist has been detained.
According to Agha, Huseynov is associated with the ‘Let Leyli Go to School’ initiative, which seems to have been established earlier this week following the latest restrictions on wearing hijab in schools.
The initiative aimed to provide a platform for teachers to offer lessons to students affected by the hijab ban, helping ensure that they are not deprived of their education. The initiative briefly operated an Instagram page under the username ‘qoymektebegetsin,’ which now seems to have been deleted.
‘I suspect that he has been arrested, and I believe this is the reason’, Javid Agha said.
As of now, it remains unclear whether Huseynov has been detained by law enforcement authorities. There has been no official information about his whereabouts or the identities of the individuals who arrived at his home.
The incident comes amid ongoing protests in Azerbaijan over the hijab ban in schools.
OC MediaRafig Shahbazov
Who is Ilkin Huseynov?
Ilkin Huseynov is an Azerbaijani artist, photographer, musician, and cultural activist known for his contribution to the development of independent art and cinema in Baku. His work focuses on urban life, memory, social issues, environmental concerns, and visual culture.
One of his most notable projects is Salaam Cinema Baku, an independent cinema and arts space established in Baku, which also became associated with the preservation of Baku’s historical architectural heritage. In 2019, concerns arose about the possible demolition of the historic building in which Salaam Cinema was located. Huseynov and other members of the community advocated for its preservation.