Zyakya Miragayev
The trial on the case of activist Zyakya Miragayev has been over at the Baku Serious Crimes Court presided over by Judge Kyamran Mukhtarov. The prosecutor proposed to find the activist guilty under Article 234.4.3 (drug trafficking on a large scale) of the Criminal Code and sentence him to 7.5 years of imprisonment, the activist's lawyer Elchin Sadigov said.
The activist denied the charges. The defence also pointed to the lack of evidence of Miragayev's guilt and asked the court to acquit him. Miragayev asked for time to prepare for his closing statement. The court scheduled the next hearing for 4 November.
It is worth recalling that Miragaev was detained on 11 October 2023 on charges of drug trafficking on a large scale. Sabail district court arrested him for 4 months and since then the arrest terms have been extended.
Miragaev pleaded not guilty. He said in court that he was taken from his home and the drugs were put in his pocket by police officers.
Miragaev's relatives link the activist's arrest to his open letter, in which he criticised the leadership of the Interior Ministry. The Interior Ministry called these allegations as ‘unfounded and personal judgements’.
Politics
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The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OPHRD), a joint program of the World Organization against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), has called for the urgent release of activist Rufat Safarov from prison in Azerbaijan. It has launched a campaign in support of the Azerbaijani human rights defender. https://www.omct.org/en/resources/urgent-interventions/arbitrary-detention-and-judicial-harassment-against-rufat-safarov
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