An Azerbaijani LGBT rights group has had its website hacked, with the phrase ‘There is no place in Azerbaijan for you! We will kill all of you’ in front of the black flag of jihad (Islamic holy war).

Javid(Atilla) Nabiyev, president of Nəfəs LGBT Azərbaycan Alyansı (the Nefes LGBT Azerbaijan Alliance), said he was ‘very concerned about [the] incident’, adding that the hacking was seen as a genuine threat to the group and its leaders. ‘If the culprits are not punished it could lead to even more severe crimes,’ he said.

In December last year, Nabiyev was attacked by four people in Sumgayit city, but it was only when he got it referred to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ramil Usubov, that the police investigated. ‘As a result,’ he said, ‘only one of the accused was prosecuted – and the case was thrown out.’

In January, after the death of the head of Free LGBT Azerbaijan, Isa Shahmarly, a negative campaign against members of Nefes LGBT began. Nabiyev says: ‘A group of people calling themselves Islamists created a group on Facebook and posted mobile numbers and photos of the head of Nefes and members of the organisation. Despite sending applications to law enforcement agencies, there was no attempt to identify and punish the instigators of the hate calls.’