Court of Appeal Upholds Orkhan Bakhyshly�s Sentence

Baku / 10.12.18 / Turan: The Baku Court of Appeal today considered an appeal against the conviction of Orkhan Bakhyshly, a youth activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA).

The complaint submitted by the lawyer Elchin Sadigov stated that Bakhyshly was arrested for his political activities, in particular membership in the PFPA and participation in protest actions. At the same time, attention was drawn to the fact that he had previously been subjected to administrative arrests.

The lawyer also pointed to the violation of procedural rules in the case of Bakhyshly.

Thus, there is no evidence in the case that after the arrest the activists explained his rights.

In addition, in the case file and the testimony of witnesses in the court of first instance there are disagreements.

The case file indicates that the place of residence of Bakhyshly was indicated in the operational information about the alleged availability of drugs at Bakhyshly.

And in court, witnesses said that the place of residence was established by the police.

The lawyer Sadigov also pointed out that according to the decision of the plenum of the Supreme Court, it is necessary to establish in the drug-related cases whether the drugs are usable or not.

However, the court of first instance did not schedule an examination.

In addition, one of the witnesses, according to the defense, in 2011 was himself brought to criminal responsibility for drugs and has since been used by the police in that capacity.

Orkhan Bakhyshly himself said that this is a "struggle between good and evil" and the court"s decision, as in the affairs of other political prisoners, will not be in his favor.

According to Bakhyshly, in order to verify the political nature of his case, it is enough to watch a video of his speech a few days before his arrest at the grave of the murdered journalist Elmar Huseynov, where he blamed the crime on the authorities.

He said that when he was detained in the square in front of the Academy of Sciences, the police explained this with his similarity to a person who stole a mobile phone.

He was first brought to the 26th station of the Yasamal police, and then to the 28th station, where a police officer named Shirali Babayev demanded to take everything out of his pocket.

And from there he got 80 gapik, headphones and keys.

Then the officer said he himself would now check his pocket. When the young man wondered whether the search warrant was applied, Babayev said: "I am the law itself". According to Bakhyshly, the officer himself planted drugs on him.

Bakhyshly urged the court to make a decision according to their conscience.

"I do not recognize the charge of drugs, but if you are to judge me for my political activities, then I will be ready to die," noted Bakhyshly.

The court dismissed the complaint.

The defense will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Recall that Bakhyshly was arrested on May 6. The police said he had 6 grams of heroin. The activist himself denied the charges, saying the police threw the drugs to him. On September 18, the court sentenced him to 6 years in prison.

A few days before his arrest, on May 3, at an event on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day at the grave of the journalist Elmar Huseynov, Bakhyshly accused the country's authorities of killing the journalist. According to colleagues, this was precisely the reason for his arrest. Human rights activists recognize Bakhyshly as a political prisoner. -06D--