The Supreme Court upheld the sentence against Elchin Mammad

Baku / 07.07.21 / Turan: On July 7, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan, chaired by Aziz Seyidov, considered the cassation appeal of journalist and human rights activist Elchin Mammad against the sentence of 4 years of imprisonment on theft and gal arms trafficking charges.
As the lawyer Fariz Namazly stated at the trial, the decisions of the courts of the first and appellate instances had been illegal and unfounded.

In his view, jewelry and 9 cartridges were planted in the defendant's office. Also, keys to the office had the owner of the premises' disposal who reaffirmed that he visited the office in Mammad's absence.

Further, Namazly emphasized that courts of lower instances ignored mitigating circumstances, particularly, defendant's minor children and his being a human rights defender.
The lawyer asked the court to make an acquittal verdict. However, the state prosecutor Rashad Mammadly spoke in favor of keeping the sentence unchanged.

After the meeting, the judicial staff announced that the cassation appeal was not satisfied, so decisions of previous instances remained unchanged.

The lawyer told Turan that the defense would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. Earlier, a complaint was filed to the Strasbourg Court against the selection of a preventive measure in the form of Mammad's arrest.

It should be noted that Mammadly refused to attend the trial for health reasons. The mother of the activist, Rakhil Mammadli believes that her son has been arrested by order.
"My son exposed corruption among officials, defended the rights of people who fell a prey to arbitrariness. It is because of this that a criminal case has been fabricated against him. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court failed restore justice," Rahilya Mammadly said.
* It should be reminded that on October 17, 2020, the Sumgayit City Court sentenced the head of the NGO "Legal Education of Sumgayit Youth" and the editor of the website "Yukselish Namine" Elchin Mammadly to 4 years of imprisonment finding him guilty of "theft" and "illegal storage of ammunition and weapons".

The human rights defender was arrested in March 2020. A woman he provided a legal assistence to complained against. Of interest is the fact that the said woman had earlier complained against an editor of the site criminal.az, Anar Mammadov. Note that Mammad associates the criminal case with his human rights activities. International organizations Amnesty International, PEN, FIACAT and others condemned the arrest of Mammad. Local human rights activists recognized him a political prisoner.—06B--