The Supreme Court cuts the term of Elgiz Gahraman

Baku / 11/29/17/Turan: The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan considered the cassation complaint of the activist of the NİDA movement Elgiz Gahraman, sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment.

The Supreme Court re-qualified the charge from a more serious Article - 234.4.3 (Manufacturing, acquisition, storage, shipment, transportation or sale of precursors for the illicit manufacture and processing of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances) to less severe - 234.1 (Illegal acquisition or storage without a marketing purpose of narcotic drugs in an amount exceeding the amount necessary for personal consumption) and reduced the sentence to 3 years of imprisonment.

The lawyer Fariz Namazli told Turan, the defense does not agree with the court's decision, since it insisted on acquitting the activist and intends to apply to the European Court of Human Rights.

At the same time, according to Namazli, the decision of the Supreme Court allows to apply for parole of Gahraman in connection with the serving of one third of the term of punishment.

* Gahraman was arrested on August 12, 2016 on charges of illicit drug trafficking on a large scale. On January 16, 2017, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison. On May 18, the appellate court upheld the verdict.

The NIDA Movement stated political motives for Gahraman's arrest, calling the sarcastic publication of the activist in Facebook critical materials about amendments to the Azerbaijani Constitution at last year's referendum the true cause of the arrest. -16B06-