Court Establishes Mehman Huseynov’s Identity on His Photos

Today in the Surakhani District Court a preparatory meeting was held at the suit of the chief of police of the Nasimi district Musa Musayev against the known blogger Mehman Huseynov.

Police accuse him of defamation of torture against him in the Nasimi Police and demand to prosecute him.

It is noteworthy that the police have deprived Huseynov of his documents for several years and do not give them to the blogger. Therefore, the court today established the blogger’s identity on his photos.

When the judge Jeyhun Gadimov asked Huseynov whether he is the man in the photograph, the blogger said it was not he, but "some orphan."

The judge did not consider it necessary to obtain clarification from the Ministry of Internal Affairs why a citizen of the country cannot receive documents for years.

The lawyer Elchin Sadigov drew attention to the groundlessness of the claim and rejected the assertion that "there was never any torture" in the Nasimi Police.

The lawyer referred to the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights of May 7, 2015, which acknowledged the torture of his brother blogger Emin Huseynov in the 22^nd police station of the Nasimi district (June 20, 2008, when Emin Huseynov was severely beaten by the police, after which the human rights defender long recovered from a brain concussion).

In addition, the lawyer pointed out the inconsistency of the lawsuit in the Surakhani court as the blogger made his statement about torture before the building of the Nasimi Court, i.e. the territory of the Nasimi district.

Sadigov also noted the case law of the ECHR, in which criminal prosecution for freedom of expression is unacceptable.

The plaintiff’s lawyer Alriza Khalilov attempted to explain this by the fact that the hosting of the media that circulated the video statement by M. Huseynov is located abroad, and therefore the claim should be submitted in the community.

The court eventually decided to accept the case and attract M. Huseynov as an accused person. The hearing on the merits is scheduled for February 27 at 9.30.

With regard to the blogger a preventive measure was chosen of a subscription about not departure.

In response Huseynov said for more than five years he has not been able to travel abroad because of the lack of documents.

Recall that Mehman Huseynov was abducted in central Baku on January 9. Several men in civilian clothes seized him, tied up and pushed him into a car and drove him away. The next day, the blogger was in the Nasimi Police, from where he was taken to court and fined 200 manat for "resisting police".

After leaving the court the blogger said he was kidnapped and tortured by the police, who demanded that he stop critical reporting of the authorities.

These words were regarded by the Interior Ministry as an insult and caused the claim. -03B06-