"Three employees Azerigas forcibly entered the intensive care unit and tried to sign documents for me".
Elsevar Islamov, deputy head of the Agsu Regional Gas Operation Department, was fired in February 2020 for abuse of office. Islamov filed a lawsuit against the Azerigaz Production Association in response.
Islamov told Meydan TV that on 25 February last year, he was summoned to the room of Jahid Huseynov, the deputy director general for sales and operation of the union. In the room, the head of the legal department, Vugar Eyvazov, and Jahid Huseynov threatened him and forced him to file a complaint.
He was accused of demanding a bribe, he says. "I told them to have the prosecutor's office open a case against me then". When he tried to leave, he says, Huseynov closed the door and refused to let him leave without filing a complaint.
Islamov believes the problem is related to disputes he had with the head of the Agsu Regional Gas Operation Department, where he repeatedly reported shortcomings to the management there.
After leaving the room, Islamov, how has long-standing heart conditions, fell ill due to the stress and was hospitalized at the intensive care unit. When he came to, three Azerigaz employees had forcibly entered the unit and were trying to sign the documents he had been pressured to sign for him despite doctors' protests, he says.
Although claims of bribery against him were not confirmed in court proceedings, he has not been reinstated or paid his lost wages. Furthermore, he says Azerigaz spread "unsubstantiated information about me in the local press".
Azerigas is subortinate to the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). SOCAR said they were unaware of the issue, and attempts to contact Azerigaz went unanswered.
