Court Reduced Sentence on Oppositionist to Six Years in Prison

The Azerbaijani Supreme Court chaired by Ali Seyfaliyev reviewed the appeal by the Majlis member of the Popular Front Party Asif Yusifli.

Recall that Yusifli was arrested November 25, 2014 on charges of fraud (Article 178) and forgery (Article 320). The victim in this case Farida Zulfugarova handed Yusifli 6,500 manat to transfer the money to the Ministry of Education employee Rafig Huseynov. For this bribe Huseynov promised to organize training of Zulfugarova’s son in high school in Ukraine. However, the deal failed, and Huseynov did not return the money to the woman.

During the trial, he acknowledged that the money was received and Yusifli had nothing to do with that. Zulfugarova also rejected the complaint in connection with the compensation of the damage. However, on July 30, 2015 the court convicted Yusifli of fraud and forgery and sentenced him to 7.5 years in prison. Subsequently, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence.

The lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev today asked the Supreme Court to justify Yusifli as his guilt has not been proven. He also drew attention to the fact that the complainant refused the claims to Yusifli. At the same time, the lawyer said Yusifli rejects the charge and says it is politically motivated.

The defender also pointed out the suitability of any other solution, which implies liberation of Yusifli.

He asked to take into account the fact that Yusifli is in the care of two young children, one of whom suffers from diabetes in a severe form. The defender also requested to take into account that Yusifli is an invalid of the Karabakh war

However, the Supreme Court only reduced the sentence by 1.5 years to 6 years of imprisonment. The lawyer said the decision will be appealed to the Plenum of the Supreme Court and the Strasbourg Court.

The PFPA leader Ali Kerimli said the decision of the court is a measure of "true attitude of the authorities to the participants of the Karabakh war."     -C06--