The trial in the case of the third group of the "Karabakh manifestation"

Baku/09.03.21/Turan: Today, the Sabail District Court began considering the merits of the case against a group of 12 people (the third group), brought to justice in connection with the rally in support of the army in Baku on July 14-15 last year.

Among those brought before the court under the chair of Ulviya Shukurova, six members of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan - Telman Seifullayev, Ismail Hasanov, Baba Suleiman, Mahabbat Nagiyev, Jeyhun Novruzov and Gunduz Mirzoyev.

The indictment was announced at today's court session. The defendants did not admit their guilt. After that, the stage of hearing the testimony of the defendants began. Telman Seyfullaev was the first to speak.

“At the rally, I demanded the resignation of the former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (Nejmeddin Sadykhov). Is it a crime to demand someone's resignation?” the oppositionist said. In the second half, the hearing of the testimony of the accused was continued.

In this case, 37 people are accused, including 16 activists from the Popular Front Party, 2 from the Muslim Unity movement and 1 member of the Movement for Democracy and Welfare. Due to the large number of defendants, the accused were divided into three groups of 12 people.

All were charged under Articles 127 (intentional infliction of minor bodily harm), 186 (damage or destruction of other people's property), 233 (violation of public order) and 315 (use of force against a police officer) of the Criminal Code. They face up to 7 years in prison.

* The action on July 14-15, 2020 was spontaneous; tens of thousands of people took part in it, who marched through the streets of Baku all night, demanding from the authorities to start a war in Karabakh. The reason for this was the attack of Armenians and the murder of several Azerbaijani soldiers in Tovuz on July 12.

A group of protesters broke into the parliament building, after which arrests began. At the same time, the official propaganda accused the PFPA of using the situation for political purposes.

After the end of the Second Karabakh War in November 2020, the preventive measure for those arrested was changed and they were released from custody. –03B06-