Reconsideration of the cases of I.Mamedov and T.Yagublu in the Court of Appeal postponed

Reconsideration of the cases of  I.Mamedov,  the leader of the REAL Movement  and  T.Yagublu, deputy chairman of the party "Musavat",  in the  Court of Appeal scheduled for February 25 in the Sheki Appeal Court was  postponed indefinitely, said  Mammadov's lawyer Fuad Agayev. The reason for this was a letter from the Prison Service of the impossibility to deliver to the court Mammadov and Yagublu from jails  in Baku.

In turn, the lawyers pointed out that the  court complex that opened in Sheki recently has all opportunities for the participation of the accused through video-conference over the Internet. Moreover, Yagubov and  Mammadov  wrote a statement with a request to hold a hearing without their participation. However, the judges did not listen to the defense arguments, and postponed the   trail  for  uncertain period.  Lawyers expressed concern about not announcing the next trial date.

Lawyer Agayev reminded that  on January 13, 2015 the Supreme Court hearing in  the case was also postponed indefinitely, and the following process took place in October.

Yagublu's lawyer Nemat Karimli described the actions of the court as unjustified delay in the proceedings and the extension of the detention of the accused in custody.

On 13 October  the Supreme Court considered the appeal, sent the case for retrial to Sheki Appeal Court.

A year ago the ECHR  upheld Mammadov’s  complaint , and decided to release him. Council of Europe Committee of Ministers has repeatedly urged the Azerbaijani government to fulfill the decision of the Strasbourg Court. However, the authorities have ignored this requirement. Last November, the ECHR upheld the complaint of  Yagublu.

Mammadov and Yagublu were sentenced on charges of organizing riots in  the city of Ismayilli  in January 2013, and  were sentenced to 7 and 5 years' imprisonment respectively. However, they believe the prosecution  is fabricated and politically motivated. Amnesty International recognized them "prisoners of conscience". -03B06-