Court Refuses to Interrogate Ali Hasanov's Spouse

Baku / 09.16.19 / Turan: On September 16, the Baku Serious Crimes Court chaired by Azer Pashayev held a regular meeting on the case of the appropriation of 564 thousand manat at the Lyceum of the Caspian Secondary School LLC. At the meeting, the defense requested that the founder Sona Veliyeva, the wife of Ali Hasanov, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan for public affairs, be called to the court.

The accused in the case are the chief accountant and accountant of the lyceum - Tural Mammadov and Farahim Mohbaliyev. They are charged under Art. 179.4 (large assignment) of the Criminal Code.

At today's meeting, the hearing of witness testimony continued.

Hamida Iskenderova, an accountant working at the Lyceum since October 1, 2018, said that until her appointment to this position, she was Sona Velieva's assistant on personal matters.

According to Iskenderova, due to the fact that Mammadov and Mohbalyev could not submit a financial report, an audit was launched at the Lyceum and a shortage of AZN 564,000 was revealed.

The accused Mammadov asked Iskenderova whether the director of the Lyceum Elnur Aliyev was present at the time of the transfer of the money to him. Iskenderova replied that she did not remember that. She was also unable to answer the question why in the audit act her name was indicated as "an external auditor".

Iskenderova said she was included in the verification commission on behalf of the director of the lyceum, Aliyev. She also said that Veliyeva"s accounting notebooks were compiled by herself.

The lawyer Elchin Sadigov asked the witness when and in what amount Veliyeva accepted the money from Mammadov. In response, the witness said "I do not remember."

"Elnur muallim (director of the lyceum) said that Sona Khanum received about 800 thousand of money, I don"t remember exactly," said Iskenderova.

At that moment, Mammadov, rising from his place, accused the witness of lying.

"She is lying. I gave the money to her, and she counted it and handed it to Sona Veliyeva. I therefore confirmed that I took 564,000 manat, because Veliyeva otherwise threatened to hand me over to the police," Mammadov said.

The judge removed the question of whether the issuance of additional salaries along with official salaries was taken into account in the final report of the verification commission.

Further, the lawyer Elchin Sadigov petitioned to summon the founder of the lyceum Veliyeva to the court as an additional witness.

"No one knows exactly how much money Sona Veliyeva received. To clarify this issue, it is necessary to question Veliyeva as an additional witness in court," the lawyer said. The state prosecutor and the representative of the lyceum asked to dismiss the application. The court, having consulted on the spot, rejected the application. This provoked sharp protests by the accused. Mohbalyev said he would begin a hunger strike.

"Why is the application not satisfied? How much money I gave her, for sure, I and she know. Let her come to clarify. If the trial is also biased, then I will write a statement and start a hunger strike," the accused said.

Judge Pashayev, having interrupted him, said: "The court is not biased. Everything will be evaluated."

The lawyers, in order to consult with the clients and prepare new applications, asked to postpone the trial. The judge, taking this into account, scheduled the next hearing for September 24th.

As noted in the indictment, in April-October 2018, AZN 1 million 366 thousand was paid for training 454 students at the lyceum. However, the chief accountant and accountant did not include AZN 564,000 of the indicated amount in the reporting and jointly appropriated the sum. Both accused are charged under Art. 179.4 (misappropriation in especially large amounts) of the Criminal Code.

The chief accountant Mammadov partially pleaded guilty. He stated that he took the money for personal needs, but not 564 thousand manat, but 350 thousand manat.

According to him, the founder Veliyeva invited him to take on the entire amount, promising in this case not to complain to the police.

"Having believed her, I wrote an explanatory letter and asked to give me 1 year of time to return the money," Mammadov said in court.

Mohbalyev pleaded not guilty. According to Art. 179.4 of the Criminal Code, both face 10 to 14 years in prison. -21С-