The victims of the "Terter case" demand to involve all the perpetrators

Baku/14.04.23/Turan: In the building of the Sumgayit court, a judicial investigation has begun over another group of military accused of torture in the "Terter case". 

The case is being considered by the Baku Military Court. 

The subject of the investigation is the events that occurred in May 2017 in Beylagan.

The former chief of staff of the Beylagan Corps, later acting head of the ideological work of the Main Directorate for Personnel of the Ministry of Defense, Major General Bekir Orujev and 4 other officers, Ziya Kazimov, as well as officers Rahim Mammadov, Intigam Mammadov and Ulivi Rashidov, appeared before the court. The case involves 62 victims and 21 witnesses. Kazimov and Rashidov are at large. Other defendants asked to be transferred to house arrest. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

The judicial staff, chaired by Zeynal Agayev, did not satisfy the petitions. Then the indictment was announced, according to which the defendants subjected the military to torture, demanding to stipulate themselves or to testify against others. As a result, Lieutenant Adyl Sabirli was tortured to death. Then the victims made statements.

Sergeant Zaur Aliyev said that he was summoned under the pretext of a business trip. "Masked people rushed at us, stripped us. There were 13 of us, our names were given to them by the battalion commander. But why wasn't he involved?" he said.

At the same time, he said that he had no complaints about General Orujev, but complained about the Military Prosecutor's Office, whose employees witnessed torture.

Orkhan Safarov, who became disabled due to torture, said that he was the  commander of the department and he was tortured along with other detainees. "I was removed from my post and taken to the corps commander Mais Barkhudarov. He asked how many of us were working for the enemy. I said there is no such thing. By his order, my hands were wrung, taken away and tortured for a week," the victim said. He confirmed that the defendants were among those who tortured Kazimov and Radjabov, and he heard insulting expressions from General Orujev. Other victims also spoke about torture. The trial will continue on April 20.

In 2017, the Prosecutor General's Office, the State Security Service, the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs in a joint statement announced the disclosure of a group of traitors among the military. Mass arrests have taken place. However, the public learned about the torture of detainees in May-June 2017 only in 2019. According to human rights activists, more than 100 soldiers and officers were tortured, 25 of them were sentenced to long terms and at least 9 people died from torture.

After numerous protests from the victims' relatives and demands from human rights activists, the authorities were forced to resume the investigation.

In December 2022, 19 convicts in the "Terter case" were released. 10 of them were acquitted, the cases of the rest were dismissed without an acquittal. Until now, several people are in prison, who have committed themselves under torture. Several people, including one general, were arrested and imprisoned for these crimes. However, the top leadership of the Ministry of Defense and the Military Prosecutor's Office were not brought to justice. ---06B---