French citizen sentenced to 3 years in prison for graffiti in Baku Metro

On September 10, the Narimanov District Court in Baku announced the verdict for three foreigners who had painted graffiti on Baku Metro trains. The verdict was delivered to French citizen Clerc Theo Hugo, New Zealand citizen De-Saint Quentin İsmael, and Australian citizen Han Paul.

According to lawyer Elchin Sadygov, the court considered the graffiti, which had no political meaning, as "hooliganism," resulting in severe consequences - "damage to someone else's property." The French citizen was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The other two were fined 6,800 manats (approximately 3,500 euros). The lawyer noted that the damage had been fully compensated, including for lost profit due to the train's downtime.

The defendants admitted to painting the graffiti but stated that they did not do so with hooliganistic intent or to cause damage. They mentioned that they had engaged in similar activities in other countries but had only faced fines of up to 400 euros in those instances. The lawyer said that an appeal would be filed against the court's decision.

It should be noted that the individuals were detained in March of this year. The French citizen was taken into custody, while the other two remained free during the investigation.