Lawyer: Bakhtiyar Hajiyev is in state of "mental tension"

Baku/12.08.23/Turan: Public activist and human rights defender Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, detained in Baku pre-trial detention centre No.1, is in a state of mental tension.
Lawyer Rovshana Rahimli told Turan after visiting Hajiyev in the pre-trial detention centre on 12 August.

According to her, Hajiyev is under the oppressive influence of the unfounded criminal case, supplemented with new charges, as well as the involvement of other persons in the investigation because of him.

"A number of persons, including Bakhtiyar's friends, are being questioned as witnesses in connection with the charges of 'illegal entrepreneurship', 'falsification and forgery of documents', 'smuggling' and others." All this worries Bakhtiyar very much. He is very concerned that other people are suffering because of him," the lawyer said.

*Bakhtiyar Hajiyev was arrested on 9 December last year on charges of hooliganism and contempt of court. On the same day, Khatai district court arrested him for 1 month and 20 days.

On 21 January, the court extended his arrest for a month, and on 23 February - for another two months - 28 April.

28 February - on the 51st day of his hunger strike Hajiyev stopped the action demanding his release.

Representatives of the US State Department, the US Senate, the European Union, the Council of Europe and a number of international NGOs repeatedly demanded Hajiyev's release from prison.

On 16 June, he was charged with new charges of illegal entrepreneurship, legalisation of proceeds from crime, falsification of documents and smuggling.

The new charges against Azerbaijani activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev are related to receiving grants from the European human rights organisations, the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Security said.

The organisation expressed fears that Hajiyev's case would become a precedent that could be followed by a wave of prosecutions of other activists and human rights defenders on similar charges. -16B06-