Supreme Court Filed Complaint on Anar Mammadli Case

On May 6 the lawyer Elchin Sadigov presented an appeal to the Azerbaijani Supreme Court against the decision of the Baku Court of Appeal on the case of the head of the Center for Monitoring Elections and Democracy Training (CMEDT) Anar Mammadli and two other activists, Bashir Suleymanli and Elnur Mammadov.

The complaint stems from the fact that the Court of Appeals upheld the conviction against the activists, said the lawyer Elchin Sadigov.

The defense believes that the charges against the activists had been falsified for political reasons, and the courts of first instance and appeal failed to conduct a fair hearing. The appeal requests to cancel the decisions of the lower courts and to stop criminal proceedings against the activists.

* On the verdict of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on 26 May 2014 Anar Mammadli was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison, and the executive secretary of the NGO Bashir Suleymanli - to 3.5 years (Suleymanli was released by the presidential pardon on 18 March). The head of the Public Association for International Cooperation Volunteers Elnur Mammadov was sentenced conditionally for the same period. They were found guilty of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, misappropriation and others. Anar Mammadli was declared «prisoner of conscience" by Amnesty International. At the end of September 2014, he was awarded the premium of Vaclav Havel. -06B-