The Baku Court of Appeal today dismissed the complaint of a Karabakh war invalid, a member of the Presidium of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Asif Yusifli, leaving him in custody.
Yusifli was arrested on November 25, 2014 on charges of fraud and falsification of documents. Later the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced him to 7.5 years of imprisonment. In May this year, the Supreme Court commuted the punishment to 6 years with regard to the repayment of the applicant’s claims, the man’s participation in the Karabakh war and the presence of small sick children he takes care of.
However, from June 1, 2016 amendments to the Criminal Code came into force, which transferred the incrimination of misappropriation made by Yusifli from the category of "major harm" to "significant harm".
Therefore, the defense appealed to the Nizami District Court to reclassify the charges to a less serious article 178.2, which is punishable by 3 to 7 years of imprisonment or a fine. The court reclassified the charge, but upheld the sentence.
“This decision is contrary to the decision of the Supreme Court to reduce the sentence given the extenuating circumstances. Even the Supreme Court sentenced him under Article 178.3.2 to less than the minimum penalty. However, the Nizami court has not softened the punishment, in spite of the fact that Yusifli repaid the incriminated sum, there is no statement against him, and he has sick young children. Today the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the verdict. We reiterate our appeal to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan,” the lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev told Turan.
In fact, he added, Yusifli did not commit a criminal offense, he only acted as an intermediary in the transfer of money from a citizen Zulfgurarova to a former employee of the Ministry of Education to send her son to study in Ukraine. Personally Yusifli did not pursue selfish goals in this transaction. However, he compensated the loss to the woman.
Yusifli himself believes the criminal case is politically motivated. Local human rights activists have recognized him a political prisoner. -03B06--
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