The investigation blocked Sevinj Vagifgyzy's mother's pension card

Baku/18.12.23/Turan: The investigation blocked the pension card of Ophelia Maharramova, the mother of the editor of “AbzasMedia” Sevinj Vagifgyzy.

The woman found it out on December 15, when she could not get her pension of 326 manats from the ATM, which she receives due to illness. The bank told her pension card  was blocked. Last month, the Khatai District Court, without any warning, blocked bank accounts and cards for pension payments and salaries not only of “AbzasMedia” employees Ulvi Hasanli and Sevinj Vagifgyzy, but also the bank accounts of their family members.

According to lawyer Zibeida Sadygova, the court's decision is unjustified and an appeal has been filed against it.  She pointed out that the court made the decision without notifying the lawyers.

Samad Rahimli, an expert in the field of law, said that according to the Article 248 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the investigative body can impose restrictions on the bank accounts of the accused and related third parties if there is evidence of their use for illegal purposes. However, if there are no such grounds, the court must reject the application. Therefore, blocking an elderly woman's pension card is absolutely illegal. The pension issued by the state has nothing to do with the charges, Rahimov said.

*Employees of the online edition of “Abzas Media” Ulvi Hasanli, Sevinj Vagifgizy, Nargiz Absalamova and collaborators with them Mohammed Kekalov and Hafiz Babaly were arrested in November–December on charges of smuggling foreign currency.  Human rights activists recognized them as political prisoners.--06B-