Court of Appeal Upholds Detention of NIDA Activists
Today the Baku Appeal Court separately considered the request of two arrested NIDA activists, Rashadat Akhundov and Uzeyir Mammadov. They are charged under Article 228.3 (illegal possession of explosives in an organized group). Lawyers applied for abolition of the first instance court for the incarceration of the activists and replace this measure with other forms of punishment, which would have them released pending trial. However, the judge dismissed the request and ordered that the accused be retained in custody.
According to lawyer Namiq Hajiyev, the court did not take into account the positive response from BP, Akhundov’s employer. After his arrest, Akhundov was not fired from the company. The defense also presented a positive endorsement from his place of residence.
Fahraddin Mehdiev, lawyer for Mammadov, also said his client's continued detention was unjustified. However, the court made a similar decision.
On March 7, activists Bakhtiyar Guliyev, Shahin Novruzlu and Mahammad Azizov were arrested. They were accused of preparing acts of violence during the upcoming protest on March 10 against the soldiers' deaths. According to investigators, explosives and drugs were found in the apartments of the accused. However, their relatives said that employees of law enforcement bodies brought these substances and placed them in the apartments.
On March 14, another NIDA activist, Rashad Hasanov, was arrested. International human rights organization Amnesty International has recognized the arrested as "prisoners of conscience."
On March 30, two members of the NIDA board, Rashadat Akhundov and Uzeyir Mammadov were arrested and on April 1, Zaur Gurbanli was arrested..—16C06
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- Politics
- 4 April 2013 18:39
Politics
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Armenia is not against the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, but does not consider it appropriate to discuss this issue now. "In the context of peace, we consider it possible to make a decision on the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group. When peace is an established fact, the existence of such a format may raise questions," Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference today. "The whole question is about the timing, we need to understand how effectively and correctly to turn such topics into a subject of discussion right now," the Armenian Prime Minister added.
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He expressed his willingness to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the border between the two countries. "A meeting with Ilham Aliyev could take place at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. I am open to such a format," Pashinyan said at a press conference today. According to Pashinyan, Armenia recently presented another proposal for a peace treaty to Azerbaijan.
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On August 31, Azerbaijan observes a "day of silence" before the Sunday’s early parliamentary elections for the unicameral Milli Majlis. All electoral campaigning is prohibited 24 hours before the voting. The early elections were initiated by the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan Party. This decision was motivated by the overlap of the scheduled elections in November with the global UN forum - the COP20 climate conference taking place in Baku.
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On August 30, at approximately 22:55, the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant in Metsamor was disconnected from the country's power grid, as reported by the Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure. The shutdown was caused by a lightning strike, which triggered the plant's safety systems to switch the station to a safe shutdown mode. Currently, the plant's staff is working on restarting the facility.
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