Court Considers Appeal of Former Head of IBA for Mitigation of Punishment
Baku / 08.02.20 / Turan: On Friday, in the Garadagh district court chaired by Urfan Mammadov, the appeal of the former head of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Jahangir Hajiyev on commutation of sentence in the first case was examined.
Attorney Fakhraddin Mehdiyev said that Hajiyev was found guilty in 2016 under articles: 179.3.1, 179. 3.2 (embezzlement on an especially large scale), 308.2 (abuse of power, entailing grave consequences), 309.2 (abuse of power) and 313 (official forgery) and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
However, in 2017, the Criminal Code was amended to reduce the sentence under Art. 179.3 from “7-12 years of imprisonment” to “5-10 years of imprisonment”, and according to Art. 308.2 - from 8 to 7 years in prison.
In addition, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the humanization of punishment and the application of alternative measures of responsibility not related to imprisonment. With this in mind, he asked that Hajiyev’s sentence be mitigated by 3 years, the lawyer said.
Hajiyev himself stated that for 4 years now without “evidence” he has been criminally prosecuted. “The investigation attracted hundreds of witnesses, but none of them testified against me. The conclusion of the examination is also in my favor. I do not consider myself guilty.
Since 2017, for hundreds of people, sentences have been softened. But for some reason this does not apply to me. I expect a fair decision from the court,” Hajiyev said.
Farhad Sadigov, a spokesman for Prison 13, said that the process of mitigation of punishment is being carried out in stages and so far the turn has not reached Hajiyev. At the same time, he positively characterized the former banker.
The State Prosecutor, for his part, recognized the possibility of reducing the Hajiyev sentence from 11 to 10 years in prison under article 179.3 of the Criminal Code.
As regards Art. 308, the Prosecutor proposed to leave the sentence unchanged.
At the same time, the state prosecutor proposed to keep the general sentence to Hajiyev, as it was - 15 years in prison.
The judge announced a break at the trial until February 11.
The defense considers the state prosecutor’s speech not logical and unlawful. “If the term of punishment under one article is reduced, then the total term should be reduced. However, the public prosecutor contradicts himself: he proposes to reduce the term under one article, and in general, to leave the sentence the same. This contradicts the presidential decree on the humanization of punishment, the lawyer said.
Recall that the total sentence of Jahangir Hajiyev in two court cases is 16.5 years in prison. –06D--
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- Social
- 8 February 2020 12:37
Social
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