Another verdict to Ali Aliyev - political revenge?

Baku/23.11.22/Turan: On November 22, the verdict was read out to the chairman of the Citizens and Development Party Ali Aliyev at the Sabunchi District Court. By court decision, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison.

The public prosecutor demanded to  sentence Aliyev to four years of imprisonment. He also proposed to combine the punishment in the new case (3 years and 11 months) with the unserved part of the punishment in the previous criminal case.

This time, Ali Aliyev was charged with  the Article 127.2.3 of the Criminal Code (deliberate infliction of less serious harm to health in a generally dangerous way or out of hooligan motives). He was found guilty of beating a cellmate.

Aliyev denied the accusations and stated that a provocation had been committed against him in order to extend his term of imprisonment.

On January 3, 2022, the Yasamal District Court sentenced Ali Aliyev to five months in prison on charges of libel.

A complaint in the form of a private criminal charge against him was filed by lieutenant-colonel of the border service Emil Jafarov. Ramin Adilov, another border guard officer, filed a similar complaint against Aliyev. On this complaint, Aliyev received another month in prison.

They are both survivors of the Mi-17 helicopter crash on November 30th in the Khizi region. The reason for the lawsuit was Aliyev’s interview to the “Osmanqızı TV” Youtube channel on December 9, 2021. Aliyev suggested that the helicopter could have crashed as a result of external influence, so the attack on the helicopter should be considered as an attack on the borders of Azerbaijan.

Aliyev did not rule out that Russia could be behind the provocation, which has long been seeking to secure the border of Azerbaijan.

Subsequently, Aliyev's sentence was increased to 1 year in prison at the suit of Ramiz Geyushev, a former functionary of the ruling “New Azerbaijan Party”. In August, a fourth lawsuit was filed against Aliyev.

Elchin Rahimzade, the head of “Bumeranq” Media, shares his opinion  on this in the “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, in the course of yesterday's trial, Ali Aliyev said that his persecution is politically motivated and is "political revenge."

"Ali Aliyev himself said that he was being persecuted in order to avenge his harsh criticism of the government's policy," Rahimzadeh said. Another goal of the authorities is to remove Ali Aliyev from political processes, the journalist said.

“Ali Aliyev has been  imprisoned in order to remove him from participation in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections. If you paid attention, the term of the sentence imposed on Ali Aliyev deprives him of the opportunity to participate in the presidential elections, which should be held in early April 2025,” Rahimzade said.