Cityscape view of Baku, capital city of Azerbaijan. Flame towers. – Photo: VisualCommunications via iStockphoto
International LGBTQ rights advocates are condemning a brutal police raid on a queer-friendly nightclub in Azerbaijan that resulted in the mass detention of more than 100 people.
As first reported by Qiy Vaar!, a website run by an Azerbaijani LGBTQ advocacy organization of the same name, police raided Labyrinth nightclub, a queer-friendly venue in Baku, around 1 a.m. on Saturday, December 27. More than 106 patrons were detained and held in custody for 12 to 13 hours.
Security forces reportedly entered the club and forcibly escorted patrons onto the street before loading them en masse into police vehicles and transporting them to the Nasimi District Police Department in Baku.
According to JAMnews, detainees were kept outdoors for several hours in freezing conditions and prohibited from sitting down. Many were wearing only light clothing — having been unable to retrieve their coats before being forced out of the club — and some became sick and even lost consciousness from the cold.
One female detainee, identified as Kiy Vaara, told Qiy Vaar! that the experience was traumatic.
“I can’t get it out of my mind,” she said. “When I close my eyes, I remember the faces of the police like a nightmare. Even though I begged to go to the toilet several times, they wouldn’t let me in. In that cold, without a jacket, I peed on my pants, and the urine froze on me.”
Detainees said police lined everyone up and ordered them to stand without bending their knees, threatening sexual violence against anyone who moved. They were kept in this position for several hours, during which officers allegedly photographed detainees, confiscated their mobile phones, and searched personal text messages and photos, with some officers reportedly copying private images.
“To torture us at the police station, they forced us to stand, not allowing us to squat or lean against the wall. When we sat down, they kicked us to get us to stand up again,” one detainee told Meydan TV. “They didn’t allow us to go to the restroom; several people wet their pants because they couldn’t stand it.”
Detainees also reported being sworn at, insulted, and subjected to psychological abuse, including pressure to testify against one another.
Qiy Vaar! published a video on its official Instagram account featuring an anonymous detainee who said people were physically mistreated and that police ignored or were indifferent to those who became ill while in custody.
“We were given an empty bottle and ordered to fill it with water from the toilet and drink it — all 106 of us,” the person says. “When another girl had an epileptic seizure, she was taken to the toilet, shouted at and told: ‘You have no right to lose consciousness here.'”
The anonymous detainee added, “One of my friends was insulted because of their sexual orientation, and someone urinated on their head.”
Each detainee was fingerprinted and questioned by police, who asked humiliating questions about their private lives and sexual orientation. Several people were threatened with violence. According to witnesses, one man who objected to the questioning was taken into a separate room and later returned with a bloodied face and split lip, later saying police had beaten him.
After several hours, police told the detainees they were being held on suspicion of drug use. No illegal substances were found, and all 106 people were instead fined for smoking in an enclosed public space, an administrative offense. The fines ranged from 30 to 50 manats (about $18 to $30), and detainees were told they would not be released unless they paid.
Labyrinth later issued a brief statement on its Instagram page describing the raid as a “police inspection” and apologizing for the inconvenience caused to guests. The statement did not address allegations of detention, mistreatment, or extortion.
Similar raids on queer-friendly spaces in the region have become increasingly common in recent years. Some have noted that collecting personal data for what amounts to an administrative offense is not standard procedure, alleging that authorities do so to surveil people believed to be LGBTQ and intimidate them into silence.
LGBTQ activist Ali Malikov told Meydan TV that the primary aim of such raids is to establish total control over independent nongovernmental groups that serve as a bulwark against state power.
“We do not fit the ‘normative and submissive’ model,” Malikov said. “Although the authorities do not openly support transphobia in society, they use it as a tool and regularly carry out raids against our community.“
Technically, homosexuality has been legal in Azerbaijan since 2000, but the country lacks comprehensive legal protections against discrimination for LGBTQ people. ILGA-Europe ranks Azerbaijan second-to-last among 49 European countries — ahead of only Russia — for its legal and policy treatment of LGBTQ rights.
The organization Qiy Vaar issued a statement calling for an “independent and transparent investigation” into the alleged mistreatment of detainees.
“We are deeply concerned by reports of a police raid on a queer-friendly space in central Baku, where around 100 people were reportedly detained,” ILGA-Europe said in a statement posted on its social media outlets.
“We stand in solidarity with the LGBTI community in Azerbaijan and support our member organization in Azerbaijan, Qiy Vaar’s call for an urgent investigation and a public statement by the authorities,” ILGA-Europe’s statement continued. “Human rights and dignity must be upheld for everyone in Azerbaijan.”
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With some effort and a pinch of luck, may we all fare better in 2026 than poor Newt's end at the start of Alien 3.
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Other LGBTQ members include Alejandro Puy, a gay Latino who represents District 2, which includes parts of downtown as well as Fairpark, Poplar Grove, and Glendale, and Eva Lopez Chavez, a gay Latina and the first Mexican American elected to the council, who represents District 4, covering parts of downtown, Central City, and East Central.
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