Convict in the Terter case spoke about tortures

Baku/10.01.20/Turan: Convict in the Terter case, Mushvig Ahmedli sent a letter to the Committee against Repression and Torture. He denies the charge of treason and states that he has been convicted of trumped-up charges. Ahmedli writes that he was the platoon commander. On the night of May 1 to 2, their unit was suddenly withdrawn from combat positions in the Terter direction, disarmed, and delivered to the place of its former deployment. They all built on the parade ground and took away the phones. Then they openly said, "among you there are those working for the Armenians."

“In the evening, at about 6:00, Lieutenant Nasif Aliyev was taken away. At about 9-10 o’clock they took Hajiyev Elnur, Alili Dursun, and me,” Ahmedli writes. In the building of the old headquarters, the lawyer of the corps, Major Fuad Agayev, led into a dark room and immediately threw him to the floor. Then masked people tore my clothes, doused with water and began to beat with a rubber hose. They also beat junior sergeant Agazade Elkhan, who was given electric current through the body, and junior sergeant Huseynov Mehman, a participant in the April battles.

Agazade and Huseynov were forced to testify against Lieutenant Aliyev Nasif that the latter through them maintained contact with the Armenians. Most of the soldiers could not stand the torture and gave false testimonies. On May 5-6, Special Forces arrived from Baku and continued to beat and torture those arrested. Ahmedli writes that he signed under false testimony after threats of violence against his father, mother and pregnant wife.

On May 8, Ahmedli was taken to a hospital in Agjabadi in serious condition. In intensive care, he was kept tied to a bed, and then transported to the central hospital in Baku. A few days later, Ahmedli was taken to the military police, where the beatings continued. On the day, they gave half a slice of bread and once they drove to the toilet. All day kept on their feet.

“I continued to claim that I did not work for the Armenians, and I do not know anyone collaborating with the enemy, they continued to beat and torture me for this,” Ahmedli notes. On May 18, he was brought to the military unit in the village of Aran, where he demanded a lawyer. A lawyer Zaur from the city of Yevlakh arrived; he was beaten again with him, demanding to admit that he had sent a soldier to the Armenian side. Ahmedli writes that he repeatedly wrote complaints to the State Security Service, the Ombudsman, the president, told about everything in court, but all in vain.

“A man came to me in the detention center and said that I could lose my son, and other members of the family would suffer if I did not give evidence that it was connected with the Armenians. I refused and received 16 years of imprisonment,” Ahmedli writes further.

* On May 7, 2017, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan reported the detention of a group of military personnel and civilians for espionage in favor of the Armenian special services.

The prosecutor's office opened a criminal case under the Article 274 (high treason) of the Criminal Code. The detainees were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. However, it soon became known that during the investigation at least eight suspects were killed because of torture. Later, the four killed were acquitted, and the investigators who fabricated the charges against them received up to 7 years in prison. -30C-