Trial in the case of Ali Insanov

Baku / 12.04.17 / Turan: The  trial in the case of ex-health minister Ali Insanov continued on Wednesday in the Garadagh district court. Representatives of the independent press were not admitted to the hall.

One of the  present at the trial told Turan, an indictment was read out, according to which psychotropic substances belonging to Insanov were found in jail N13. When the protocol was drawn up, Insanov broke the document and grabbed the staff of the Penitentiary Service Anar Mammadov by the throat, tore off his shoulder straps, and pushed. Mammadov fell and hit his head, and was injured. Insanov himself rejected all the accusations, calling them fabricated, and declared violations of his rights and members of his family.

"If drugs are found, why was not the head of the operational regime department  punished; and  on the contrary, his rank  was  increased?" he asked the court.

Concerning the falsification of the accusation, he said: "How could I at the same time break the protocol and grab the major's throat, tear off the shoulder straps, push him - am I Mohammed Ali or what?"

However, the victim Anar Mammadov confirmed the version of the charge, saying that he was treated for a month in the hospital and his blood pressure increased.

However, Insanov accused the major of lying, saying that in such cases, the pressure falls and does not increase. The fact of falsification, he believes, is the statement of the investigation that the psychotropic substances withdrawn from him allegedly were colored. Such substances are not colored, colored are vitamins, said the ex-minister.

Further on spoke  two witnesses from among the prisoners and five other witnesses from among the workers of the jail and the Penitentiary Service; and then the  testimony of witnesses ended.

The next meeting is scheduled for 14:30 on April 19th.

* Ali Insanov was arrested in October 2005 on charges of attempted coup d'état. Subsequently, he was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment for economic crimes.

In October 2016, 56 days before the expiration of the term of imprisonment, new charges were brought against him on the Articles: 234.1 (acquisition and possession of drugs), 315.2 (resistance to the representative of power in the performance of official duties), 317 2.1 (manufacturing of prohibited items, their storage and wearing). On October 11, 2016, the court of Garadagh district ruled  his arrest.

On March 14, 2013, the European Court ruled on the unfair condemnation of Ali Insanov, but the Azerbaijani authorities did not change the verdict.

The Cabinet of Ministers of the Council of Europe has repeatedly called on the government of Azerbaijan to implement the decision of the European Court. Human rights organizations recognized Ali Insanov as a "political prisoner." - 03C06--