Court again refused to release Fazil Gasymov from custody

On 26 December the Baku Court for Serious Crimes continued the trial of economist Fazil Gasymov.

His lawyer Fuad Agayev requested to change the preventive measure and release Gasymov from custody.  As he has already been under arrest for 1 year and 4 months without any material and procedural grounds. However, the motion was rejected.

Then the testimony of another defendant Anar Aliyev was heard, who did not plead guilty for using counterfeit money, but admitted to possession of weapons.

Anar Aliyev claimed that in the summer of 2023, he allegedly asked economist Gubad Ibadoglu for a job. Ibadoglu, according to Aliyev, told him that he would set up a company in autumn and hire him there. Ibadoglu allegedly gave Aliyev $11,000 to hire graduates of the Caucasus University to work in the future company.

Aliyev claimed that $1,000,000 later turned out to be counterfeit, which he was unaware of.

Aliyev said that Ibadoglu set him up with a certain Fazil, with whom he communicated via video link. However, the defendant Fazil Gasymov is not the same person, Aliyev said.

Ibadoglu himself had previously said he did not know Aliyev. According to Ibadoglu, last summer, a man approached him in the car park near the Taza Pir mosque, complaining about life and economic difficulties. This man was similar to the said Aliyev, whom the investigation presents as the accused.

The trial will continue on 9 January.

*Fazil Gasymov was arrested in Istanbul on 8 August 2023 and brought to Azerbaijan. He was accused of making counterfeit money together with Gubad Ibadoglu, a well-known economist and critic of the Azerbaijani government. But now Fazil Gasymov's criminal case is being considered separately from Ibadoglu's criminal case.

He went on hunger strike in June to protest against his unlawful arrest. Recently, he has continued to refuse food, taking only honey-sweetened yoghurt and water.