At the trial in the case of human rights activist Rasul Jafarov lawyers said final words. Alibaba Rzayev pointed to the invalidity of all charges. The lawsuit was filed by the Attorney General "on the fact" of the proposal of the Ministry of Justice, but it was not explained what kind of fact served as the basis for the lawsuit. It is unclear why the Ministry of Justice initiated the investigation in the case of Jafarov and several other human rights defenders, although there are hundreds of NGOs receiving grants for millions amount. The lawyer believes that the criminal proceedings were initiated against the activists who criticized the government.
He further pointed to the inconsistency of the charges under the Article "large scale embezzlement." The investigation alleges Jafarov misappropriated $150,000 manat received from donors. However, the investigation did not attract these donors as victims.
Furthermore, donors officially declared they have no claims against Jafarov. As victims were involved five people who work in the project of Jafarov. Such disputes are subject to civil litigation, not criminal. But all of the victims said in court that they do not consider themselves victims, and asked them to remove this status. All 13 prosecution witnesses have also shown that grants are used for other purposes, confirming Jafarov’s innocence.
Lawyer called unreasonable statements on illegal business and the use of grants without state registration. Until February 2014 legislation does not require registration grants by individuals. And when it was introduced by the new legislation, Jafarov had already implemented grant projects through NGOs with state registration, and presented grants for registration to the Ministry of Justice. But even if we assume that Jafarov had violated the law, then not registration of grants provides for administrative responsibility in the form of a fine.
The lawyer noted the absence of entrepreneurial activity in Jafarov’s actions, since it involves the production of goods and services for profit.
Jafarov was registered as individual taxpayers and paid taxes and its activities do not require licensing.
The other mistake in the criminal case is an indication of the same amount of 150,000 manat - as large scale misappropriation, and income within the illegal business. With the same amount Jafarov was attributed to tax evasion by 6.200 manat. "Where is the logic? It turns out that the thief must pay tax from the stolen money," ironically said the lawyer. He also pointed to the failure of the prosecution under Article 313 (forgery), as it applies to state and municipal taxes.
The Article 308.2 (abuse of power, resulting in serious consequences) is not justified. Human Rights Club, headed by Jafarov did not have a state registration, that is Jafarov had no job. In addition, the investigation has not clarified what kind of "serious consequences" is in question.
Taking it into account the lawyer called the lawsuit against Jafarov "absurd, biased, illegal", and suggested to justify Jafarov on all points of charges.
Lawyer Fariz Namazly drew attention to the presentation of the invalidity of the Club of Human Rights, as illegal. At the same time, he referred to the statement of the Council's support to NGOs Azay Guliyev and an official letter to the government of Azerbaijan in the Strasbourg Court in the case "Ismailov against Azerbaijan", which states that NGOs can operate without state registration.
Namazly also noted that grants are not tax liable. Jafarov personally paid taxes for the payment of his work in projects.
In addition, the investigation did not provide any evidence on misappropriation by Jafarov 146,000 manat, referring only to the bank statements of the receipt of funds. He also proposed to justify Jafarov.
He offered to justify Jafarov. However, the judge announced a break, and then postponed the meeting for April 15 at 10: 30. —06С-
Politics
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On December 28 president of Ukrain called to the president of Azerbaijan İlham Aliyev.
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The preliminary investigation into the case of Russian oligarch and former "state minister" of the separatist regime of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ruben Vardanyan, has been completed. According to a joint statement by the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, Vardanyan has been charged under the following articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code: Article 100 (planning or waging aggressive war), Article 107 (deportation or coercion of the population), Article 109 (persecution), Article 112 (deprivation of liberty in violation of international law), Article 113 (torture), Article 114 (mercenary activities), Article 115 (violating laws and customs of war), Article 116 (violating laws and customs of war), Article 214 (terrorism), Article 214-1 (financing terrorism), Article 218 (organization of a criminal community), Article 228 (illegal trafficking in weapons), Article 270-1 (creating threats to aviation safety), Article 278 (violent seizure of power or violent retention of power, violent change of the constitutional order of the state), Article 279 (creation of illegal armed formations), Article 318 (illegal crossing of the Azerbaijani state border).
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On December 28, Russian President Vladimir Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, as reported by the Kremlin's press service. During the conversation, the issues related to the crash of the AZAL passenger plane on December 25 near the city of Aktau were discussed in detail. "Vladimir Putin expressed his apologies for the tragic incident occurring in Russian airspace and once again conveyed his deep and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured," the statement emphasized.
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On December 28, the trial of Abzas Media began, with the prosecutor reading the indictment. At the start of the session at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, the accused, the chief editor of Abzas Media, Sevinc Vagifgizi, filed a motion to disqualify the court panel. She argued that the current composition of the judges could not conduct an impartial investigation, as two of the three judges had previously ruled on cases involving political prisoners.
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