Relatives of convicts in the “International Bank Case” talk about judicial violations

Judge Hasan Ahmedov postponed the trial scheduled for today to consider the appeal of the former chairman of the board of the International Bank of Azerbaijan Jahangir Hajiyev and former deputy Dunyamin Guliyev, demanding that they be fully acquitted and released. The postponement of the consideration of the appeal claim to February 10 is related to another  trial  currently underway in the Garadagh court of Baku against Hajiyev’s lawsuit, protesting against the deprivation of his rights to real estate, which the court can take from him in compensation for bank funds assigned, as the court claims.

Hajiyev was detained on December 5, 2015. His wife Zamira Hajiyeva, put on the wanted list, was arrested in absentia, since she lives in London. On June 23, Jahangir Hajiyev and seven other defendants in the case were charged with embezzlement for a total of more than 211 million.

Answering Turan’s questions, Hajiyev’s sister, Amina, said that her brother is sick with a rare thyroid disease and does not receive treatment in prison; no blood is taken for analysis. The International Red Cross Organization cannot help the family.

After Hajiyev’s hunger strikes, his health generally improved, and the convict looked normal in the cell of the Court of Appeal. Hajiyev was sentenced to 16.5 years in prison on charges.

“The Council of Europe Human Rights Court is considering several lawsuits in the Hajiyev case, the number of all trials in the Hajiyev case is eight. The Supreme Court is considering our lawsuit against the taking  his dacha and apartment; after the release from prison Hajiyiev will have nowhere to live. During the trial, the mother of Hajiyev died, but he was not allowed to attend the funeral of his mother. A year and a half he was not given permission to phone conversations with his family. The opportunity to communicate with relatives on the phone Jahangir received after my open letter to the president. Several appeals of lawyers to a judge demanding to call witnesses to the trial have not even been considered. The case of Jahangir Hajiyev is being considered with all possible violations of the laws, we are being kicked. We intend to file a complaint with the Supreme Court with a request to acquit brother if this issue is not resolved in the Court of Appeal,” said Amina Hajiyeva.

One of the lawsuits filed by Hajiyev concerns the non-application of the presidential decree on humanizing the sentence of 2015, according to which court sentences in cases close to the accusation of Hajiyev were reviewed and sentences were reduced.

Sevda, a relative of the convicted Dunyamin Guliyev, agrees with A. Hajiyeva. They say that J. Hajiyev and D. Guliyev are innocent, they did not appropriate the bank’s money, and the prosecution was initiated by Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, who so punishes the convicts for not following the ministerial instructions. “The subordinates of the Minister of Finance were members of the Supervisory Board of the International Bank; all the decisions of Hajiyev passed through this Council and were controlled by Shafiev. Jahangir could not have appropriated such huge funds of the bank without the knowledge of the minister. But despite the requests of lawyers, the Minister of Finance is not involved in the investigation and trial,” said Amina Hajiyeva.

According to Amina Hajiyeva, the press publishes a lie about the expenses of Jahangir's wife, Zamira in London. They write that her Pomeranian dog costs one and a half thousand dollars. “I have three dogs of this breed in Baku and I know that each costs five hundred dollars. “Zamira took her dog to London from Baku, that is, she could not pay one and a half thousand dollars. Zamira spends some money in London on her own and family members, but not the kind that the press writes about,” added Amina Hajiyeva.