“Our people are interested in this issue” - Yunis Safarov

Baku / 16.01.20 / Turan: On January 16, the trial  in the case of the accused of attempted assassination of the head of Ganja Elmar Veliyev continued in the Sabunchi  district Court in Baku.  There are 12  accused, including Yunis Safarov, who directly tried to shoot Veliyev on July 3, 2018. The case is being examined by the judges of the Ganja Serious Crimes Court.

At the beginning of the trial, the mother of the accused, Mahira Azizova, protested against not providing her son with an interpreter.  In response, Judge Natig Aliyev  ordered her to leave the court hall. This caused dissatisfaction with the relatives of the accused. In response, the main person involved in the case, Safarov, urged the audience to leave the hall. After the protests, the mother of the accused Azizova was returned to the hall.

Azizova asked with dissatisfaction why the question of a translator became a "big problem". “I speak my native language, but I studied in the Russian sector. I don’t understand why this turns into a big problem,”Azizova said. It was further announced that lawyer Bakhtiyar Hajiyev had joined in defending Safarov’s rights.

In turn, the accused Firudin Zeynalov refused the lawyer appointed by the state. He asked the court to allow media representatives to conduct video and audio recordings of the process. However, the application was rejected.

The accused Jafarov Zalov also refused the state-appointed lawyer Yegana Mammadova. Safarov further protested against the rejection of the application for video and audio recordings.

“In Azerbaijan over the past 30 years, no one has tried to kill an official. Our people are interested in this issue,” Safarov said. However, the judge did not let him finish, and disconnected the microphone.

Further, the lawyer Elmar Agayev appointed by the state to Safarov refused to participate in the  trial. Safarov further stated that for a year and a half he was not allowed to talk on the phone and see family members. “If my rights are not guaranteed, then  how can we talk about the justice of the court,” Safarov said.

The lawyer of the accused Zalov, Ilgar Rustamov, stated that his client and the other accused refuse the lawyers appointed by him by the state, but the court does not accept this. He protested the trial.

Further, lawyer Javad Javadov, on behalf of other defenders, challenged the composition of the court. The process will continue on February 17th.

* July 3, 2018 in Ganja an attempt was made on the then head of the city Elmar Veliyev. Ganja native Yunis Safarov wounded him and the bodyguard of the head of the city.

After that, a protest rally in front of the Ganja administration building was scheduled for July 10. On that day, riots broke out in the city, during which two police officers were killed. Following this began mass arrests of believers and others.

In these events, criminal proceedings were instituted against 70 people. The defendants were sentenced to imprisonment from  six to 18 years. About 10 people were conditionally released. Cases of two groups of those arrested are pending before the court of appeal. The trial on  the case of Safarov and 11 others began in January. — 21C-