Former Prosecutor General may be imprisoned for 11 years

Baku/07.01.22/Turan: On January 7, the state prosecutor made a closing statement in the case of former Azerbaijani Prosecutor General and former Ambassador to Serbia Eldar Hasanov at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes.

The state prosecutor asked the court to sentence Hasanov to 11 years of imprisonment with confiscation of property. Speeches of Hasanov's lawyers are scheduled for January 14.

Lawyer Javad Javadov told Turan that Hasanov took the statement of the state prosecutor calmly, it was not unexpected for him, because he considers the case against him "trumped up and ordered".

*Eldar Hasanov was detained on August 13, 2020, by officers of the State Security Service. He was charged under five Articles: 179.3.2 (embezzlement), 193-1.3.2 (legalization of illegally obtained funds), 308.2 (abuse of office), 308-1.1 (misuse of budgetary funds) and 313 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code.

It should be reminded that Hasanov is accused of embezzlement and misappropriation during his work as Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro from 2010 to 2020.

Some observers link the case against Hasanov to his political ambitions. Hasanov himself claims that he has fallen victim to intra-governmental intrigues.

The criminal cases of high-ranking officials of the Foreign Ministry arrested concurrently with Hasanov were specified into a separate case.  Subsequently they received suspended sentences only.-03B06-