Bakhtiyar Hajiyev Accuses Investigation of Illegal Evidence Gathering

On December 9, the Baku Serious Crimes Court continued the trial of activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev. During the session, the examination of documents was continued, and Hajiyev raised a number of motions. In particular, he requested that documents requested from Bank Respublika be excluded from the case materials.

“These documents were requested by the police before the criminal case was initiated, in violation of the law on operational-investigative activities. Furthermore, the bank violated commercial secrecy. Since the evidence was obtained illegally, it should be excluded from the case,” Hajiyev stated.

He also requested an investigation into the email address from which a complaint about his “illegal actions” had been sent. Hajiyev believes that the letter was prepared by the law enforcement agencies themselves. The judge did not address the motions, noting that the legal assessment of these issues would be made when delivering the verdict. Hajiyev also stated that his last hopes for a fair verdict were shattered following the arrests of human rights defender Rufat Safarov and journalists from Meydan TV.

*Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was arrested in December 2022 on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court. On June 16 of the previous year, he was presented with new charges related to financial violations, including embezzlement of grants. He was also accused of illegal entrepreneurship, money laundering, smuggling, and using counterfeit documents. In November of the same year, an additional charge of tax evasion was brought against him.

Hajiyev and his colleagues believe the trial is politically motivated, linked to his outspoken criticism of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and, in particular, the Minister Vilayat Eyvazov.