The Supreme Court has left the opposition leader in custody
On April 18, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejected the appeal of activist Punhan Kerimli, who was arrested after deportation from Germany. Thus, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence of imprisonment of Kerimli for a period of 5 years in the drug case.
In November 2021, Kerimli was deported from Germany and two months later arrested in Azerbaijan on charges of illegal drug trafficking. The Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced him to 6 years in prison. Later, the Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by one year.
On May 16, the Supreme Court partially satisfied Kerimli's cassation appeal, returning the case for reconsideration to the Court of Appeal. However, on August 29, 2023, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed only one of the charges against Kerimli, leaving the sentence unchanged.
Today, the Supreme Court approved this verdict. The defense intends to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Kerimli is recognized by human rights activists as a political prisoner.
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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This year, the laureate of the annual Nargiz Prize, awarded for efforts in the fight for democracy, was Akif Gurbanov, chairman of the board of the Resplatforma (Platform of the III Republic) movement, who is under arrest.
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The U.S. will prohibit the issuing of visas for nearly a dozen more individuals responsible for undermining democracy in Georgia, bringing the total number to over 100, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.
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The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has expressed condolences to the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, following the tragic incident in the city of Magdeburg. "We are deeply shocked by the news of the deaths and injuries resulting from the tragic incident that took place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg," the message reads.
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