One of Defendants in Scandalous Video with Bentley Arrested

Baku Appeal Court today held a consideration of the protest of the capital Prosecutor's Office in the case of brothers Elin and Zaur Mammadov accused of beating Ulker Isayeva, the daughter of the rector of the private university Khazar, Hamlet Isakhanli.

The protest was filed in connection with the fact that the Khatai Court refused to arrest the brothers. The Court of Appeal arrested Zaur for 2 months, and in respect of Elin it upheld the previous ruling.

This case has caused a great stir in the social networking due to the video shot from street surveillance cameras on the incident that occurred on the night of March 9 at the intersection of Azadlig Avenue and Hajibekov Street in Baku.

A number of local media claimed that Zaur and Elin Mammadov, intoxicated, at 04:25 for no reason pulled their friend Ulkar Isayeva out of a Bentley car at the intersection of U. Hajibekov and Azadlig and began beating her on the hands and feet, and dragged her on the asphalt.

On 12 March the above-mentioned persons were detained on the basis of the submission of the Main Police Department of Baku. The capital Prosecutor's Office asked the court to draw the brothers Mammadov as defendants under Article 221.2 (hooliganism) and authorize their arrest.

On March 14 Khatai Court Judge Razia Atasheva decided to release the brothers Mammadov in the courtroom.

However, the prosecutor's office appealed the decision.

Consideration of the protest of the prosecutors began on March 17 and continued on the 18th. Stretching the appellate proceedings on preventive measures for two days is a rare occasion for judicial practice in Azerbaijan.

The brothers are charged under article 221.2.1 (hooliganism committed in a group). Zaur was arrested for 2 months, and his brother Elin will be free during the investigation.

The most interesting, as specified in the media, is that the alleged victim of the incident Ulker Isayeva and her father deny it.

She wrote on Facebook she is well and was not subjected to any violence.

Hamlet Isakhanli issued a statement to the media, which states that the victim of the violence was a girl Kate familiar to his daughter. This girl in a state of intoxication expressed obscene words and was put out of the car by the young people. And when the men were detained, Ulker allegedly told police that she was beaten, but she had no complaints about the detainees in order to let her go.

The mother of the accused, journalist Gulnara Mamedova denied any involvement of her sons. According to her, they are intelligent young people, who work in a travel agency, and the Bentley is not theirs.

In this story, a lot is not clear and foggy and lack of clear information by law enforcement agencies creates a ground for various rumors and speculation.

It is also unclear how the video footage from surveillance cameras could appear in social networking.

Surprising is also the persistence of the police and the prosecutor's office in the selection of a preventive measure - arrest in the absence of complaints of the injured party.

A rare case is also the refusal of the trial court to satisfy the police and prosecutors’ petition to arrest the suspects.

It seems that this story contains a hidden subtext of conflict of interests of influential forces. -16B-