Araz News: On Thursday, June 11, 2015 the charges for civil activists Ghulam Gholizdeh, Ata Karimi, Ali Azizi, and Sina Hasani were announced.

According to VOA’s Azerbaijani Service, the four civil society activists were accused of maintaining contacts with foreigners and spying, and for their roles in distributing leaflets promoting rallies to protest against the drying of Lake Urmia.

Due to their foreign contacts, the activists were accused of spying on behalf of foreign entities in Sections 6 & 10 of the Revolutionary Court of Urmia. The allegations, however, have been rejected by the Azerbaijani activists.

Within a matter of days, activists  Ata Karimi, Ali Azizi, Sina Hasani, Ghulam Gholizadeh had been arrested in the city Urmia.

Araz News will continue to monitor the situation for any further developments.