Arrested Azer Gasimli

The Yasamal District Court of Baku 9 chose a preventive measure in the form of arrest for a period of 4 months against the director of the Institute of Political Management Azer Gasimli.

His lawyer Rovshana Rahimova informed Turan about this.

According to her, Gasimli rejected the charge of extortion by threats and links the arrest with his socio-political activities.

The lawyer also drew attention to the fact that the "victim" filed a complaint against Gasimli on December 7 and the next day a criminal case was immediately opened against him.

The defense will appeal the decision to arrest.

Earlier, lawyer Agil Laidj reported that the complaint against Gasimli was filed by the person who took a debt from him.

Despite the fact that there was an earlier court decision that the debt should be repaid, the debtor began to claim that Gasimli allegedly threatened him.

Gasimli was detained on the morning of December 8 as a suspect under Article 182.2.3 of the Criminal Code (extortion by threats) of Azerbaijan. Under this article, he faces a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years.

On November 22, Gasimli was not allowed to leave the country. Three days later, he was interrogated by the Baku police as a witness in several criminal cases.

Gasimli is known as a critic of the domestic and foreign policies of the Azerbaijani government. In his posts on social networks and interviews, he explained the new wave of arrests of journalists and activists over the past year by the turn in Azerbaijan's foreign policy towards rapprochement with the Kremlin.