Why was Elchin Sadygov expelled from the Bar Association?

Baku/10.07.23/Turan: On July 6, the Presidium of the Bar Association of Azerbaijan (PBAA), considered the conclusions of the Disciplinary Commission of Lawyers on 22 disciplinary proceedings initiated against lawyers during the meeting: one lawyer was reprimanded for violating legal requirements, one lawyer was suspended from advocacy for a year,  and three lawyers were suspended from legal practice and expelled from the Bar Association. To terminate the status of a lawyer and exclude the latter from the Board, the PBAA intends to apply to the court.

Among them is Elchin Sadygov, known for his participation in the protection of the rights of many well-known journalists, bloggers, political and religious activists.

Sadygov considers the decision of the PBAA illegal and at the same time politically motivated. He also stated that the disciplinary case against him was considered without his participation.

The Bar Association, in turn, informed Turan that Sadygov's statement about the political motivation of his expulsion does not correspond to reality and is a lie. The PBAA decided in connection with Sadygov because of a number of gross violations of the law committed by him.

The reason for the suspension of his activities was the appeal of journalist Eynulla Fatullayev to the Bar Association with a demand to act against Sadygov.

Sadygov confirmed what Fatullayev wrote in his Facebook status on March 28 (the talk is about a publication in which Sadygov noted that he was conducting communication to suspend criticism of Rasim Mammadov by Zeynalli- Ed.).

In the message haqqın.az on July 6, information is confirmed that Fatullayev appealed to the Bar Association with a demand to act against lawyer Elchin Sadygov.

Elchin Sadygov presents his version of what is happening in the "Difficult question" program.

According to him, in the cases that he conducted recently, he fought against the use of torture and made relevant complaints in this regard. "This naturally caused dissatisfaction with state structures and in particular the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In this regard,  on June 12  I wrote a status on Facebook stating that my client was insulted in my presence, after which I was forced to go to court, call the 102 hotline, and also call the ombudswoman and filed a complaint. After that, on June 14, I received a call from the Bar Association and was told that in September last year, Eynulla Fatullayev filed a complaint in connection with the head of the Baku Steel Company, entrepreneur Rasim Mammadov.

I replied to them that since a trial is being conducted against Avaz Zeynalli in connection with the case of Rasim Mammadov, and also, the prosecutor's office is investigating against me, devoid of any grounds, then in connection with the complaint of Eynulla Fatullayev, the Collegium should apply to the court and the prosecutor's office with a request. I should not violate the presumption of innocence and give them evidence. I have already given all the necessary evidence at the investigation," the lawyer explained.

There were no more calls from the Disciplinary Commission, Sadygov said. On June 24, disciplinary measures were conducted and his report was discovered.

"After the so-called violations were discovered, I openly appealed to the president. There is no answer yet. On July 6, due to the fact that I spoke out against torture, a politically motivated decision was made to deprive me of the status of a lawyer and expel me from the Bar Association," the lawyer is convinced.--0--