Court of Appeal leaves PPFA activist Tehran Abdullayev in custody

An appeals court in Baku has upheld the administrative arrest of the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA) activist Tehran Abdullayev in a drug use case.

The appeal against Abdullayev's arrest was heard at the Baku Court of Appeal late last week, lawyer Nemat Kerimli told Turan.

According to police, Abdullayev was behaving ‘strangely’ on the street, so they detained him, suspecting drug use. Allegedly, after an examination, the activist's drug use was confirmed, so they handed him over to the court, which imposed a 20-day arrest, the lawyer said.

However, Abdullayev denied the accusation. ‘Tehran Abdullayev said he was actually detained at a building materials shop. He said he did not know what drugs looked like at all and was far from it. Abdullayev said that for several days he didn't know what charge he was arrested on at all. Abdullayev linked his arrest to his membership in the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan and political activity,’ lawyer Kerimli said.

The defence asked to terminate the administrative case, or at least reduce the punishment to 10 days and release him in connection with serving this term.

However, the court upheld the arrest decision.

* Tehran Abdullayev, an activist of the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan, was arrested on 15 October for 20 days under administrative procedure on charges of drug use. He denied the charge and linked the arrest to his political activities. The PPFA also claimed political motives for Abdullayev's prosecution.