Supreme Court of Azerbaijan leaves journalist in prison

Baku / 05.06.18 / Turan: On Monday, the Supreme Court heard a cassation appeal filed by blogger Mehman Huseynov, who was sentenced to 2 years in prison. The case of Huseynov was considered in the Supreme Court in the second round.

First time the case was returned to the Baku Court of Appeal for a second trial.

However, the appellate instance, in fact, did not conduct the investigation, leaving in force the verdict in October last year.

The reason for the arrest of the blogger was his allegations of torture in the police in January 2017, where he was taken after the abduction in the center of Baku. In response, the head of the Nasimi police department Musa Musayev filed a libel suit.

The Surakhani District Court sentenced Huseynov to two years' imprisonment on March 3, finding him guilty of libel for committing a serious crime (Article 147.2 of the Criminal Code

At today's meeting, Huseynov himself was absent. He himself refused to participate in the trial. Lawyer Fuad Agayev called the case of Huseynov nonsense in the legal practice. For under Article 147 (slander) claims can only be filed by individuals.

In this case, the chief of the Nasimi police on behalf of the department demanded the punishment of Huseynov. The lawyer drew attention to the fact that the police did not provide evidence of slander by Huseynov.

So, the journalist claimed that he was brought to the police in a private car with a bag on his head. Despite the presence of CCTV cameras in the police, the videos of delivery of Huseynov were not presented to the court. At the same time, the police claimed that Huseynov was brought to the Nasimi police in a police car of the Post-Patrol Service.

According to the lawyer, the Supreme Court showed disrespect to its previous decision, which obliged the appellate court to re-investigate and ensure the viewing of videos in the Nasimi police. Now the defense will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. -06D--