Human rights structure condemned the verdict of Niyameddin Ahmedov

Baku/09.10.21/Turan: The Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners strongly condemned the conviction of a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, Niyameddin Ahmedov, of imprisonment for 13 years.

The human rights structure recalls that Ahmedov was detained on April 16, 2020 and administratively arrested for 30 days on charges of violating the quarantine regime and disobeying the police. While serving this sentence, according to Ahmedov, he was taken out by the state security service and was tortured.

He was later charged with a highly dubious "terrorist financing" charge. “It was based on the fact that Ahmedov allegedly received funds from Gabil Mammadov, who lives in Germany, to prepare terrorist attacks. However, Mamedov is known among political emigrants from Azerbaijan as a provocateur.

At the trial, no reliable evidence of Ahmedov's guilt was presented. The trial was not fair. Lawyers' petitions were rejected, access to the courtroom was restricted, and filming and audio recordings were prohibited. All this testifies to the ordered, politically motivated nature of the process,” said Elshan Hasanov, head of the Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners.

The organization found in Ahmedov's case a violation of a number of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms, including Article 3 ("Prohibition of torture"), Article 6 ("Right to a fair trial") and  Article 13 ("Right to an effective remedy.")

“We, former political prisoners, consider the court's verdict illegal, politically motivated and demand an independent investigation and the release of Niyameddin Ahmedov,” the statement said. The Center for Monitoring Political Prisoners was created in October 2014 by a group of former “prisoners of conscience” headed by Elshan Hasanov. — 06D-