The Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of Sardar Alibeili

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) on May 29 upheld the conviction of the chief editor of the newspaper PS Nota and its Internet version www.psnota.com, Sardar Alibeili, and kept it unchanged. The lawyer for Alibeili, Elchin Sadigov, reported.

The defense will submit an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Sardar Alibeili was arrested in Baku July 31, 2013 on the complaint of a Natig Amirov. He was charged under Article 221.3 (hooliganism with weapons or objects used as weapons) of the Criminal Code.

November 13 Baku Khatai District Court sentenced him to four years in prison.

January 13 at the preliminary meeting of BCA the defense motion to hold a repeated judicial investigation was rejected. This decision was challenged in the Supreme Court, which, however, dismissed the complaint.

On May 29 the Baku Court of Appeal essentially considered the complaint and upheld the verdict of the local court of Khatai.

Alibeili has repeatedly been prosecuted because of critical and insulting publications.

As Alibeili's colleagues believe, this time the arrest was a result of critical notes and collage to the President Ilham Aliyev hosted in Facebook, as well as publication of the refugee Isa Sadikhov.

 Amnesty International has recognized Alibeili "prisoner of conscience". - 06B-