Trial for the First Group of Persons Involved in the March 1 Events in the Guba Region

Preparatory trial in the case of persons accused of involvement in riots in the Guba region on March 1, 2012 will take place in the Guba region under the chairmanship of Zamin Tahirov.  Eight people will go on trial, according to the court. 

Law enforcement agencies, the arrested are charged with Articles: 186.2.2 (deliberate destruction of property), 233 (organization of public disorder, or participation in them) and 315.2 (resistance to authority, or the use of force against him.)

The criminal investigation was carried out by the Investigation Department for Serious Crimes of the General Prosecutor Office, and was completed in late July, on August 8 the case was sent to court.

Turan was able to learn 7 of the 8 defendants names from unofficial sources.  They are: Farhad Abdurahmanov, Alkhas Danyalov, Sakhavat Vaizi, Samir Hanmedov, Hayam Yunusov, Zamistan Amiraslanov, and Safar Garibov, all residents of the Guba region.

Thirty people brought to trail for the events in the Guba region. Attempts to get official information the arrested were futile. The Guba regional court has no information on these matters. Tahriov did not answer repeated calls.

An employee of the court office, Elgun Hajiyev, refused to provide information, and the assistant to the chairman of the court refused any contact with his boss.

There were riots in the Guba on March 1, 2012 demanding the resignation of the chief executive of the Guba region, Rauf Khabibov, for offending the locals. The protest turned into riots when a group of people set fire to the luxurious villa of Khabibov, and attacked the executive power building. 

The situation stabilized after it was reported Khabibov was fired. After a few days, arrests of the protesters began. Among those arrested were two journalists, and leaders of the local TV channel "Khayal". They are accused of placing video on the Internet with the outrageous speech of Khabibov.-03B06-