Supreme Court Keeps Former Minister in Prison

The Azerbaijani Supreme Court today rejected the complaint of the former Minister of Foreign Economic Relations Nijat Guliyev, sentenced to 3 years on a charge of illegal possession of weapons. Turan was told by his lawyer Afghan Mammadov.

According to him, the defense requested the Supreme Court to justify Guliyev. The full completion of the sentence on Guliyev is expected in a little more than two months.

Earlier Guliyev repeatedly denied the charges, calling them a falsification, and the trial itself – far-fetched.

Guliyev was detained in the village of Novkhani on August 8, 2014. The investigation stated that assault rifles and hand grenades were found in his country house, and a pistol was found in his private car.

After the arrest the famous screenwriter Rustam Ibrahimbekov said Guliyev was persecuted for his consulting Ibrahimbekov before the presidential election in 2013. The playwright is sure Guliyev is punished for his support of Ibrahimbekov.

In 1993-1995 Nijat Guliyev was Head of the Foreign Economic Relations Ministry of Azerbaijan and then left the country.

Since the late 1990s until the mid-2000s he worked as advisor to the President of Adzharia Aslan Abashidze. Following the resignation of Abashidze, Guliyev did business in Azerbaijan and Turkey.

In October 2005, Nijat Guliyev together with other high-ranking officials was arrested on charges of plotting a coup, but two weeks later, he was released. -06B-