Court Did Not Release Afgan Mukhtarly to Wake of His Sister and Nephews

Baku / 05.01.17 / Turan: At the trial on the case of the journalist Afgan Mukhtarly in the Balaken district court today, the defense petitioned for changing the arrest as measure of restraint for house arrest, the lawyer Nemat Kerimli told Turan.

"On December 31, close relatives of Afgan Mukhtarly tragically lost their lives and we asked to change the measure of restraint for house arrest so that he could meet with relatives and take part in the funeral feast," Kerimli said.

Since the extension of the arrest, the circumstances that substantiate his detention have changed and he will not even hypothetically put pressure on the witnesses, the lawyer said.

The defense appealed to both the Ombudsman and the Prison Service to let Mukhtarly go to the funeral, but received no reply.

The Code of Execution of Penalties provides for the release of prisoners for a wake. Even for convicts, a 7-day leave is provided for the death of close relatives.

The law also does not directly prohibit the short-term release of a prisoner. In addition, there is a precedent. The journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov was once released for the funeral of his father, being under investigation.

On the other hand, the arrested person has not yet been recognized as a criminal and they cannot restrict the right to participate in the wake of his close relatives, the lawyer said.

Mukhtarly is shocked by grief and this negatively affects his condition; he is suffering from an acute form of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. However, the court rejected the defense's motion.

The process will be continued on January 12.

Recall that on December 31 in a rented apartment in the town of Zagatala the sister and two nieces of Mukhtarly were found dead. The investigation is developing versions of their death from carbon monoxide or food poisoning.

* The journalist Afgan Mukhtarly was kidnapped in the center of Tbilisi on May 29, and then secretly sent to Azerbaijan. According to him, this was done by the employees of the criminal police of Georgia together with law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan.

The next day, Mukhtarly was in Baku, where the court arrested him on charges of three articles: 315 (resistance to the representative of the authorities), 318.1 (illegal border crossing) and 206.1 (smuggling).

Mukhtarly is recognized as a political prisoner by local and international human rights defenders. Colleagues are convinced that he is being persecuted for his critical publications about corruption in Azerbaijan.--03B06-