Baku Grave Crimes Court, chaired by Ahmed Guliyev, considered the case against the 31-year-old Facebook user, Abdul Abilov. Before the trial, Abilov, addressing the audience, said : "They can not turn Azerbaijan into North Korea."
After the trial a lawyer Khalid Bagirov petitioned to call additional witnesses. The judge granted the motion, and two witnesses of defense were questioned. Witness Mahir Ismailov saw that Abilov was brought to the courtyard, where the defendant lives in handcuffs. This refutes the version of investigators that Abilov was detained in the yard, and he himself took out his drugs, and then "voluntarily" went home for extra bag of drugs, and he was not handcuffed.
Attorney Ramin Nagdaliyev objected that saying that Abilov was not in handcuffs. The judge asked the witness whether Abilov uses drugs, and he replied negatively. Judges began to ask a witness a lot of questions. Abilov’s supporters took this as pressure on witnesses. In response, the judge Ahmed Guliyev called it contempt, and demanded to empty the hall.
"It is contempt that you keep me here. Do what you are told," Abilov said. A witness Tashkilat Abdullayev said that he had heard about the arrest of Abilova, and some time later he was taken in handcuffs to the yard. The judge asked the witness why Abilov was arrested, and he replied "because of politics."
Abilov was arrested on November 22, 2013 near his home in the Yasamal district by employees of Directorate for Combating Organized Crime (DCOC) of the Interior Ministry. During the detention a plastic bag with 2,679 gram of heroin was allegedly removed from his pocket, and in a rented apartment from his jacket were removed 4,677 grams of heroin.
Abilov was prosecuted under Article 234.4.3 (illegal possession or sale of drugs on a large scale,) which prescribes penalties for up to 12 years in prison. At trial, the young man said that he was arrested for political reasons and for active participation in Facebook.-16C06-
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