Court of Appeal refused to return documents seized in Gubad Ibadoglu's office

Baku/23.12.23/Turan: On December 22, the Baku Court of Appeal considered a complaint against the refusal to return documents seized from the office of the Party of Democracy and Prosperity of Azerbaijan.

According to lawyer Zibeida Sadigova, the court rejected the complaint and upheld the decision of the Narimanov district court.

"These documents belong to the Center for Economic Research. Gubad Ibadoglu was arrested on completely different charges. The investigation has been ongoing for five months. Document review and examination are completed. Therefore, the documents had to be returned and the seal removed from the premises," Sadygova said.

According to her, Ibadoglu himself also participated in the trial. "He said that the documents were not relevant to this case and should be returned," the lawyer noted.

On July 24 of this year, the Narimanov district court arrested Gubad Ibadoglu, chairman of the Party of Democracy and Prosperity of Azerbaijan (PDPA), for 3 months and 26 days.

He was accused of the Article 204.3.1 (selling counterfeit money) and the Article 167-3.1 (storage and distribution of extremist materials) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani Interior Ministry said that Gubad Ibadoglu was detained as part of an operation related to supporters of Fethullah Gulen, accused of an attempted coup in Turkey in 2016. Gubad Ibadoglu denied the charges, saying his arrest was a political order.

A number of countries and international organizations, including the U.S. State Department, U.S. senators and congressmen, have called for Ibadoglu's release.-16D06-