Farhad Badalbeyli: "Mehman Aliyev Neither Bandit, Nor Killer"

Baku / 07.09.17 / Turan: "I do not know the exact information, for what Mehman Aliyev was arrested, but I know one thing: if a person is in a bad situation, he should be helped," said the rector of the Baku Music Academy, the chairman of the Union of Music Figures of Azerbaijan Farhad Badalbeyli, commenting on the signing of an appeal by a group of members of the public to the Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with a request to change the measure of restraint for the journalist.

"He is not a bandit or a murderer, or a dangerous person, so I think he will stay at home, and he will not go anywhere. In my opinion, tough steps do not make sense in the current situation," Badalbeyli continued.

He refrained from commenting on the criminal case against Mehman Aliyev.

"I'm not a lawyer, and I just signed up so that this person had normal conditions. I cannot say anything about the investigation," Badalbeyli continued.

Another person that signed the appeal, the rector of the private university Khazar, Hamlet Isakhanli, commenting on the initiative of the public, stressed that Mehman Aliyev is a well-known representative of the intelligentsia.

According to him, the authors of the appeal believe that for the period of the investigation Mehman Aliyev can remain at large, and then the trial will be held.

He refuted the assumption that the public's appeal in the case of Mehman Aliyev was initiated by the authorities. "No, it is absolutely impossible. I have never joined such campaigns, and I have never had any hints from the government. It was purely an initiative of the intelligentsia, there were discussions, they turned to me, and I said that I would certainly sign. A letter was written, we got acquainted with the text and In the end, we made a decision, each independently of each other," Isakhanli stressed.

Will the appeal be taken into account?

"I think that yes, in principle, the request is acceptable, it says about the success of this man, his contribution to the development of the media, and his role in bringing the truth about Karabakh to the world community, and that he will not escape from here. I believe that maybe this decision could be taken without this appeal, but we decided to accept such an appeal and it was signed by more or less well-known people who are far from politics and are creative people. Their appeal will probably attract attention," Isakhanli said (Radio Azadlig). - 06D--