The case of Elgiz Gahramanov returned to the first instance court

A preliminary meeting in the case of Elgiz Gahramanov,  an  activist of the NİDA movement, convicted for 5.5 years on charges of  a large-scale drug trafficking, began today at the Baku Appeals Court (BAC) under the chairmanship of Sahibkhan Mirzoyev.

During the meeting, a lawyer Fariz Namazli made comments on the protocols of the  first instance court, where there are no testimonies of a number of witnesses, in particular, the answers of the employee of the Expertise Center Gulshan Humbatova.

The defense asked to return the case to the Baku Grave Crimes Court in connection with the said objections. The prosecutor Rasul Abbasov did not object.

BAC decided to return the case to the Baku Serious Crimes Court and postpone consideration of the complaint until the court of first instance expresses its attitude to the remarks of the defense.

Gahramanov was arrested on August 12, 2016 on charges of illicit  large-scale drug trafficking on a large scale. On January 16, 2017, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced him to 5.5 years imprisonment.

The NIDA movement announced political motives for Gahraman's arrest, calling the publication in Facebook the true cause of the arrest, where he mocked about the comparison of Ilham Aliyev's son with the prominent state figure Shah Ismailov Khatai. Gahraman is recognized as a political prisoner by local human rights organizations.-06D--