Kura Civil Headquarters NGO: Court Did Not Conduct Full Investigation into Amiraslanov Case

The judicial investigation into the case of the activist of the Kura Civil Headquarters (KCH) NGO Ilham Amiraslanov was not objective and was accompanied by a violation of the due process, said a member of Kura, Director of Turan News Agency Mehman Aliyev.

Recall that on September 12 the Sabirabad district court in Azerbaijan sentenced Amiraslanov to two years in prison. The court found him guilty under Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code (possession of firearms and ammunition). Before the verdict was read out, the state prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to 2.5 years in prison.

Amiraslanov was arrested near the Askerbeyli village, in which he lives, on June 8. According to KCH NGO, on this day the activist was taken to his house, accompanied by armed men. As reported by eyewitnesses, he was forced to take something from the basement and the armed men photographed it. On June 11 Amiraslanov was charged with illegal possession of arms and ammunition, and was arrested by the Sabirabad District Court for 2 months. On August 4 the Sabirabad district police completed the preliminary investigation against Amiraslanov. The trial of the activist began on September 8. The defendant denied the charge.

"He demonstrated intolerance to facts of embezzlement by officials... The court heard no testimony of the defense witnesses and did not consider the video evidence brought by the defense," Mehman Aliyev told Kavkazskiy Uzel (Caucasian Knot).

"These shots completely destroy the version of the prosecution. So, at the Court on 6 September, employees of the Main Department for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Interior claimed that the arrest and search of Amiraslanov's home was attended by only three members of this department, and two witnesses were from Baku. They also claimed that the police of Sabirabad did not participate in this. However, in the video shot by local people on a mobile phone it is clear that the talk with the Askerbeyli villagers disgruntled with Amiraslanov's arrest was conducted by the Sabirabad Police Department Deputy Chief Rauf Majidov. However, the court and the witnesses claimed that there was no policeman around," said Aliyev.

In his view, the court did not conduct a full investigation, having conducted only two meetings. Furthermore, in his view, the court hampered the coverage of the trial by journalists and civil society activists.

Aliyev said that Amiraslanov actively advocated for the rights of people affected by the floods in the rivers Kura and Araz in the spring and summer of 2010. He demonstrated integrity and uncompromising attitude to the facts of embezzlement of funds allocated from the state budget for flood relief and compensation to citizens by the officials, Aliyev said.

"The criminal case was fabricated against Amiraslanov," said his lawyer Samir Isayev, who also declared unfounded the conviction and said that the verdict will be appealed.

Amiraslanov denied the charges and said that the gun and the ammunition were planted and the criminal case was fabricated because of the man's human rights activities.

The head of the Human Rights Club Rasul Jafarov also condemned the guilty verdict for Amiraslanov. "We are convinced that the criminal case against Amiraslanov was fabricated to punish him for active citizenship. This was also done for the local people not to fight for their rights for fear of the consequences," said Jafarov.

According to Jafarov, Amiraslanov has joined the ranks of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, and their total number exceeds 60.

Earlier, on August 3, Amiraslanov's lawyer Samir Isayev said that the preliminary investigation was carried out with gross violations of procedural law.

The Sabirabad District Court did not comment on this, referring to the end of the workday. The Interior Ministry has not commented on the verdict either.

Recall that on July 13, another activist of KCH NGO, Mirabad Rzayev and his son Mirsaleh Rzayev were detained in the building of the executive power of Saatli, where they came to complain of the delay of restoring their housing affected by the flooding. Rzayev Jr. was subjected to administrative detention for 10 days. For Mirabad Rzayev the court chose detention for 2 months. He was charged under the article "The use of force against a government official" (315.1 of the Criminal Code).

Large-scale flooding occurred in Azerbaijan in May-June 2010. It affected more than 20,000 houses and thousands of families lost their farms. Despite the fact that comprehensive measures to eliminate the consequences of the disaster were taken, the local people still face problems. -0 -