The Court of Appeal commuted the sentence of the PFPA activist

The Baku Court of Appeal has completed consideration of a complaint against the verdict of an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Elbai Kerimli. Following the results of the proceedings, the appellate instance reclassified the charge from Article 234.4.3, (illegal acquisition, possession of drugs on a large scale for sale) to the milder Article 234.1-1 (illegal acquisition, possession of drugs on a large scale without the purpose of sale) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan and reduced the prison sentence from 6 to 5 years, lawyer Neymat Kerimli told Turan.

Nevertheless, according to him, the defense will file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court.  "We will insist on the acquittal of Elbai Kerimli. After all, this young man did not commit a crime at all, drugs have nothing to do with him," the lawyer said. Earlier, in court, E.Kerimli rejected the accusation, saying that it was fabricated for political reasons.

According to E.Kerimli, the real reason for his arrest was the writing of the word "Stalin" on the monument to Heydar Aliyev in August last year.