Former Accountants Insist on Ali Hasanov's Spouse's Coming to Court

Baku / 11.10.19 / Turan: In the Baku Serious Crimes Court, chaired by Azer Pashayev, the trial of the case of the appropriation of 564 thousand manat at the Lyceum of the Caspian Secondary School LLC was postponed due to the failure of the defendants' lawyers to attend the meeting.

The accused in the case are two accountants of the lyceum - Tural Mammadov and Farahim Mohbaliyev. They were arrested on the basis of a complaint by the founder of the Lyceum, Sona Veliyeva, the wife of Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov, and charged under Art. 179.4 of the Criminal Code (large assignment).

Before the start of the meeting, the accused, speaking to reporters in the courtroom, said they were continuing a hunger strike in protest against the unfair trial.

"We intend to continue the hunger strike until the end, until the court calls and interrogates Sona Veliyeva. How can a court make a decision without interrogating the person on whose complaint we were arrested? She was not questioned either at the preliminary investigation or in court. If something happens to us as a result of the hunger strike, then 4 people will be guilty of this: Ali Hasanov, Sona Veliyeva, the director of the Kaspi Lyceum Elnur Aliyev and judge Azer Pashayev, who is considering our case," said Tural Mammadov.

Due to the absence of the lawyers, the judge adjourned the hearing to October 14. At this meeting, the state prosecutor will make a closing speech.

The head of the public relations department of the Prison Service, Mehman Sadigov, denied information on the hunger strike of the accused in this case.

"The people you named do not go on a hunger strike, they did not submit a statement of intention to go on a hunger strike. The other day in a pretrial detention center they met with members of their families. That is, there is no problem," Sadigov told Turan.

* As noted in the indictment, in April-October 2018, 1 million 366 thousand manat was paid for training 454 students. However, the chief accountant and accountant appropriated 564 thousand manat from the indicated amount, without entering them into the reports.

The chief accountant Mammadov partially pleaded guilty, saying that he had taken money for personal needs, but not 564 thousand, but 350 thousand manat. According to him, the founder Veliyeva invited him to take on the full amount, promising not to complain to the police. "Believing her, I wrote an explanatory and asked to give me 1 year to return the money," Mammadov said in court. Mohbaliyev pleaded not guilty. -21C-