Supreme Court Rejects Appeal of Islamic Party Leader

Baku / 06.12.17 / Turan: The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan did not satisfy the complaint of the Islamic Party leader Movsum Samadov of tightening the terms of his punishment, in particular, his transfer to the particularly strict Gobustan prison, the lawyer Javad Javadov told Turan.

According to him, the trial was held without Samadov"s participation, although he expressed a desire to participate. Judge Ali Seyfaliyev motivated the conduct of the proceedings without the participation of the convict himself, saying that Samadov "did not explain why he wanted to participate in the meeting."

The defense considers the judge's argument unsuccessful, since participation in the trial is the right of a convicted person and no additional justification is needed for that.

The lawyer said the defense will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and considers that Samadov's imprisonment in the Gobustan prison is a sort of repeated punishment for him.

* Movsum Samadov was arrested in 2011 and sentenced to 12 years in prison on charges of illegal possession of weapons and an attempt to change the constitutional order. The European Court began communication on his case.

On October 9, 2014, by the decision of the Garadagh court, he was transferred from Prison No. 12 to the Gobustan prison for 2 years. He was returned to Prison No. 12 on November 28, 2016.

On the same day he was put in a punishment cell for 15 days. After this the prison leadership offered to return Samadov to the Gobustan prison. The Garadagh court granted this submission, and the appeal was rejected.

Movsum Samadov sharply criticized the authorities of Azerbaijan for corruption and violation of the rights of believers, and also declared a hunger strike in the Gobustan prison in protest against anti-democratic changes to the Constitution last August. -03C06-