At Trial in Ganja Case, Lawyers Challenge Court

Baku / 14.06.19 / Turan: The day before, in the building of the Sabunchu district court, trials were held over 2 groups of defendants of 8 people in the so-called "Ganja case".

According to the human rights activist Ogtay Gyulalyev, on June 13, two new lawyers joined the defense, Shahla Humbatova and Zibeyda Sadigova.

"The participation of new lawyers at the first meeting led to tensions between them and the judges. So, Judge Dadash Imanov repeatedly interrupted the defendants and lawyers, unreasonably warned them, and interrupted them when it came to torture, and all this caused discontent in the hall," said Gyulalyev.

In this regard, the lawyer Humbatova and a number of other defenders challenged Judge Imanov. The challenge will be reviewed today.

One of the highlights of the meeting on June 13 was the announcement of a letter from the First Deputy Prosecutor General Rustam Usubov about the results of the investigation into the facts of torture of the accused during the preliminary investigation.

The letter states that the allegations "of torture have not been confirmed."

"This decision of the prosecutor"s office caused protests of the defendants who faced moral and physical sufferings and who still have signs of torture on their bodies," said Gyulalyev. He believes the investigation was formal.

They even "forgot" to view the recordings from video cameras of observation of the events of July 10-11 in the Ganja police departments.

Gyulalyev believes that participation of independent lawyers in the case will complicate the task of law enforcement to hide the facts of torture. He also pointed out that, unlike others, on June 13 the staff of the US Embassy and the EU Delegation were present at the trial.

* On July 3, 2018, in Ganja, an attempt was made on the then head of the city, Elmar Veliyev. A native of Ganja, Younis Safarov wounded him and his bodyguard.

After that, on social networks, a protest rally against Veliyev was scheduled for July 10 in front of the Ganja administration.

On July 10, the MIA reported on the unrest in Ganja, during which two police officers were killed. Following this, mass arrests among believers began. In total about 60 people were brought to criminal responsibility. Another 6 people were killed while providing armed resistance.

In early March, two groups of the accused, a total of 14 people, were already sentenced to various terms ranging from 5 to 8 years in prison on charges of participating in mass riots and violence against police officers. -05B06-