Investigation of oppositionist Mehman Aliyev begins

On January 7, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes began an investigation into the case of the activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Mehman Aliyev, who is accused of illegal drug trafficking.

As lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev told Turan, Aliyev stated in court that he was being prosecuted on fabricated charges.

The activist said that the reason for his arrest was his refusal to delete the video of his relative Ali Isayev being detained by civilians. The latter shouted that they wanted to falsely accuse him of a drug-related crime.

Aliyev suggested that the police conduct a personal search of Isayev in front of the camera.

However, they refused to do so and continued trying to put Isayev in a car. In doing so, Isayev cut his hand in protest. Aliyev distributed the footage on the Internet and refused to delete it, after which he was detained.

The oppositionist told the court that he was subjected to physical violence after his detention.

"During the medical examination upon admission to the pretrial detention center, doctors found abrasions on his body. Unfortunately, our complaint about torture against Aliyev by the police was not investigated by the prosecutor's office," the lawyer said.

The next court hearing in Aliyev's case was scheduled for January 21.

*  On May 22 of this year, police in Shirvan attempted to detain Ali Isaev, Mehman Aliyev's cousin. Aliyev publicized a video of the attempted detention and an audio recording of phone conversations with police officers demanding the video be deleted. After the incident, Aliyev went to Baku and was detained on May 23. Party members claim that Aliyev is being persecuted for spreading videos critical of the police, a claim denied by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.