“Time for Mazahir Panahov to Retire” - Expert (updated)

Baku / 21.02.20 / Turan: Mazahir Panahov has reached retirement age and apparently no longer understands what he is talking about. This is how the expert in the field of law Alesker Mammadli commented on the statement of the head of the Central Election Commission that Gubad Ibadoglu’s daughter herself was the instigator of the incident at the polling station, filming the “other woman” on the phone.

As Mammadli emphasized, the electoral law guarantees the transparency and openness of the election process.

“This means that everything that happens at polling stations can be filmed and made publicly available. According to the instructions signed by Panahov himself, webcams are installed at polling stations so that millions of citizens can see what is happening online,” Mammadli said. -0-

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2020 February 21 (Friday) 12:39:32

CEC Head Justifies Violence against Member of Election Commission

Baku / 21.02.20 / Turan: CEC Head Mazahir Panahov justified the violence against a member of the precinct election commission with an advisory vote, Zhala Bayramova.

 On February 9, on the day of voting at the Milli Majlis election, Bayramova was a member with an advisory vote of polling station N16 of the Lankaran-Astara constituency N76. She was beaten by a woman who was not a voter, observer, or member of the commission.

The head of the CEC, Mazahir Panahov, commenting on the incident at a meeting of the CEC on February 20, said this happened because Bayramova was shooting images against the will of the “other woman”.

“The woman who was filmed appealed to law enforcement agencies and the filming person was punished under the law. Therefore, the opposite side takes proactive measures, distributes various shots, as if she had been beaten,” Panahov said.

To this, Bayramova’s father, the head of the Movement for Democracy and Welfare Gubad Ibadoglu stated:

“The head of the CEC is neither a prosecutor nor a judge to pronounce a sentence in advance and decide who will be punished. Secondly, the head of the Central Election Commission should explain what was Azada Karimova doing at the polling station. She is not a voter, not a member of the commission, not an observer, and she had no right to be there at all and this is illegal.

Thirdly, the polling station is a public place. It has been repeatedly stated that the elections are held in an atmosphere of publicity and transparency, with webcams installed there.

 On the other hand, the fact of Bayramova’s brutal beating is evident. “Therefore, without bringing to justice the one who beat the victim and opening a case against the victim herself says that the issue is not considered within the framework of the law, but according to someone else’s instructions.

Even if the law forbade shooting on the site, this does not give anyone the right to beat another person almost to death,” Ibadoglu noted, attaching his daughter’s beating to the said video. — 06D-