The Supreme Court will consider an appeal of Rasul Jafarov on 16 February

On February 16 at 10:00  will be considered the appeal of the  human rights defender Rasul Jafarov in the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan. On 21  January  he sent an appeal to the judge Farhad Kerimov presiding at the trial with the request to provide his personal presence at the hearing. "I think that in view of my rights as reflected in the legislation my participation at the  trial will be provided. I do not lose hope that the latest intra-court will make a fair decision,"  says  the statement by Jafarov released on his page to Facebook.

Rasul Jafarov , the head of Human Rights Club and coordinator of the advocacy campaign "The Art of Democracy" , was arrested on 2 August 2014 on charges of illegal business, tax evasion and abuse of power.

On April 16, 2015 he was sentenced to 6.5 years in prison. On 31 July  the Baku Court of Appeal reduced the sentence by three months. Amnesty International recognized Jafarov as a "prisoner of conscience". Numerous statements by international organizations, including the Council of Europe, European Union and others call on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Jafarov and other human rights defenders who were arrested on trumped up charges. -06D-