Aida Gafarov, who was released from prison, is now being punished with dismissal?

Baku/09.06.23/Turan: Abid Gafarov, a public activist, discovered that he had been dismissed from his position at BP oil company following his release from prison.

In an interview with a correspondent from Turan, Gafarov explained that due to the sentence imposed on him on December 6, 2022, as per part C of paragraph 1 of Article 71 of the Labor Code, his contract was terminated.

Despite his release, the company declined to reinstate him to his previous job. Gafarov is a specialist in the automation of production and technological processes in the oil sector, and he has worked in Azerbaijan's oil, gas, and energy industry for approximately 30 years.

It is worth noting that Abid Gafarov was arrested on July 13 of the previous year following a lawsuit filed by a group of veterans from the Karabakh war. They accused Gafarov of insulting and defaming them.

He was subsequently sentenced to one year in prison on charges of slander (Article 147) and insult (Article 148) of the Criminal Code, with a six-month term for each count.

However, the actual reason for Gafarov's persecution stemmed from his video reports exposing the crimes against a large group of military personnel who were convicted in the controversial "Terrorist case" in 2017 for alleged espionage on behalf of Armenia.

Gafarov shared his research on the YouTube channel KİM.TV.

On June 1, the Court of Appeal released him early, reducing his sentence.

In the program "Difficult Question," Abid Gafarov discussed his arrest, experiences in prison, and dismissal from work. He mentioned that many individuals involved in investigating the "Terrorist case" and attempting to uncover the orchestrators behind the heinous crime against the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and the state had suffered consequences. Oktay Gulalyev faced health issues, while Ilham Aslan oglu and Avaz Zeynalli were imprisoned, according to Gafarov.

Regarding his release, Gafarov clarified that he did not seek clemency, stating, "I did not apply for clemency because I did not consider myself guilty of committing a crime. Moreover, the charges of slander and insult (Articles 147 and 148) brought against me were not applicable to my case. Additionally, my trial was not concluded. The Supreme Court returned my case for appeal, and there was no final court decision in effect. Therefore, I could not be pardoned."

Gafarov asserted that his detention directly violated the law since there was no verdict in his case. He questioned why he was in a correctional facility, emphasizing that he should not have been there.