Ex-Officer Punished

On Friday, Gulnaz Lyatifova, mother of Asif Latifov, a former officer in the Special State Guard Service, held a press conference at the Media Center. On January 29, 2013, Asif  Latifov was convicted by the Military Court and sentenced to five years in prison under Article 228 (possession of weapons), and 232 (abuse of power.)

According to lawyer Farzali Ibrahimov, the investigation was biased, and the accusations are ridiculous. The officer, Latifov, was accused of stealing a bullet, while his colleague Emin Alekperov, who lost the bullet, was not punished. At trial, none of the witnesses said that they saw Latifov steal the bullet, however, the court rather severely punished his client. The lawyer is preparing to file an appeal.

The mother of former officer said that her son served for 17 years and was repeatedly awarded. All his problems started after Fikret Rzayev was appointed the head of the "Betta" group.

The above-mentioned case with the bullet happened on March 5 2001. The following day, Asif Latifov found the bullet, and passed it not to the commander of the group, but to the inspection office. Four days later, Asif Latifov was dismissed under the Article on non-compliance. After his discharge, he met with Vagif Akhundov, who is part of the Special Security Service but the meeting gave no results. Fifteen month’s after his dismissal, Asif Latifov raised the issue in the press, expressing criticism of the management of the service. A lawsuit was then filed against him.

The mother claims that in prison her son is under threat. She sent a letter to the President, in which she asserts that responsibility for what happened to her family falls on the head of Vagif Akhundov. -05C04-