Courts as a tool of political repression

Baku/15.11.21/Turan: The Baku Serious Crimes Court announced a decision regarding the PFPA activist Agil Humbatov who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A lawsuit against him was initiated on charges of deliberately inflicting grievous bodily harm with the aim of committing hooliganism in a generally dangerous way (Article 126.2.4 of the Criminal Code). The Popular Front Party said that the reason for the arrest was his appeal to President Ilham Aliyev on social networks.

The Baku Court of Appeal also considered the appeal filed by Tofig Yagublu to secure the opportunity to visit his mother's grave in Georgia and participate in the funeral ceremony. The court ruled that Tofig Yagublu could not attend his mother's funeral and was not allowed to visit his mother's grave.

The former head of the Executive Power of Gadabay region has been on hunger strike for 10 days already. The reason for the hunger strike was the failure to extend amnesty to Rustamov announced last week, an unjust sentence (arrest for up to three years) and confiscation of property. The human rights organization "Line of Defense" appealed to the president with a request to release Saleh Rustamov. The Baku Serious Crimes Court  sentenced Saleh to 7 years and 3 months in prison.

On November 12, the Baku Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Gabil Mammadov, considered the complaint of Ramiz Jafarov, an activist of the Binagadi district branch of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, against the decision of the Sabunchu District Court on administrative detention. A protocol was drawn up against him on charges of petty hooliganism (Article 510 of the Administrative Code) and disobeying a legal request from the police (Article 535.1 of the Administrative Code). The Sabunchu District Court sentenced Jafarov to 25 days of administrative arrest. The Baku Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Sabunchu District Court.

Human rights activist Samir Kazimly spoke about such judicial incidents in the program "Difficult Question". The human rights activist is convinced that the court's decision in the case of Agil Humbatov is politically motivated. According to him, the persecution of Humbatov is a vivid example of how the courts in Azerbaijan fulfill the political orders of the authorities and are an instrument of political repression.

“The courts in Azerbaijan fulfill the political orders of the authorities and are an instrument of political repression. The verdict handed down to Humbatov speaks for itself - there is no need to talk about the right as such. This is nothing more than politics in its pure form and settling scores,” said Kazimly.

He stressed that Agil Humbatov is not a politician, not a party functionary or even a journalist, but just an ordinary and a citizen, whose fault  is that he raised social problems in social networks, criticized the policies of the authorities.

Kazimly claims that the authorities in Azerbaijan are intolerant of any criticism; any dissent is generally unacceptable for them. The authorities jail everyone who disagrees with their actions and policy. “The logic here is simple - the authorities should be beyond criticism. And those who dare to criticize  will be imprisoned. This is how  then power protects itself," says Kazimly. -0—