Azerbaijan to free Israeli man held since January when bullets found in luggage
Eliahu Avraham to be fined; Foreign Ministry still working to secure release of another citizen detained in Baku due to ammo in soldier daughter’s borrowed bag
A court in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku on Wednesday ruled that an Israeli man who was detained after five bullets were found in his luggage can return home, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.
Eliahu Avraham, who has been held in Azerbaijan since early January, will have to pay an unspecified fine.
The Foreign Ministry is still trying to secure the release of Israeli Dalia Haddad, who was arrested late February at Baku airport for the same reason. She had brought along the bag of her daughter — an IDF soldier.
A number of similar incidents have occurred with Israelis traveling abroad over the past year.
In November, a 62-year-old Israeli was detained by Uzbek authorities for three days after being arrested when a loaded weapons clip was found in his bag upon arrival in Tashkent.
A similar incident occurred in Uzbekistan in March 2017, when an Israeli in his 20s was held for 12 days after 13 bullets were discovered in his luggage as he was transferring between planes on his way from Israel to Thailand.
And in October an Israeli man, also in his 20s, was arrested in Egypt with bullets in his bag. He was released some hours later, fined some $140 and banned from entering Egypt for seven days. His brother said at the time that he had used a bag from his time in military service and had not been aware of the bullets’ presence.
