Not Investigation, but Punishment – Lawyer

Asabali Mustafayev, the lawyer for the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) activist Fouad Ahmadli, has received no reply to the request for a medical examination of his client in connection with the deterioration of his health and the impossibility of detention for him. Despite the fact that three weeks have passed since the submission of the application, there is no reply.

Meanwhile, Ahmadli suffers from a pulmonary disease and his serious health problems continue, which the lawyer saw at a meeting with him on February 4.

The investigation did not consider a request for the return of pension cards, a computer and other items seized from members of Ahmadli’s family, either.

According to the lawyer, despite the extension of the arrest term, no investigation is conducted.

“In early January, the arrest was extended for another two months until March 12. A month passed, but the investigation was never carried out. This is not an investigation, but a punishment,” Mustafayev said.

* The PFPA activist Fouad Ahmadli was arrested on August 18, 2016 on charges of violating the law on operational and investigative activities and abuse of office.

In a joint statement, the Prosecutor General's Office and the State Security Service accused Ahmadli, who worked as an operator in the Call Center of LLC Azerfon, of transferring classified information to other people.

Ahmadli was named as a person connected to the network of the theologian Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of having prepared a coup in Turkey.

However Ahmadli denies all these charges, believing that his arrest is connected with the opposition activities in the PFPA ranks.

Human rights organizations have recognized him as a political prisoner. -05B06-