Trial in the case of civil activist Amiraslanov

A hearing in the case  of Ilham Amiraslanov, will be held on Thursday at 15.30 in court Sabirabad,  activists of civil society "Kura" protecting the rights of those affected by flooding and fighting the corruption associated with the elimination of the consequences of the floods in May and June 2010.

Preparatory  trial was held on August 22.

Amiraslanov  is charged with Article 228.1 of the Criminal Code ( possession of firearms and ammunition), which involves hard labor for up to two years, or imprisonment up to three years. He was arrested on June 8 on charges of possessing a pistol "Makarov" and ammunition.

After his arrest, Amiraslanov said that the gun and ammunition had been planted, and he was beaten by police. According to the lawyer Samir Isayev, a preliminary investigation was  accompanied by serious  disorders. Prosecutor for  Supervision was informed about inconsistencies in the testimonies of witnesses, the absence of evidence on the part of some police officers, whose names noted Amiraslanov in connection with  physical pressure on him.

Amiraslanov was arrested on June 8, four days after the meeting with the Minister of Emergency Situations, Kamaleddin Heydarov, about the resolution of problems of flood victims in 2010. It was not the first meeting with the Minister. On June 24, 2010 residents of the flooded villages blocked the road to Baku, opposing the plan for the resettlement to the villages adjacent to the Kura River in the desert. Then Heydarov came to have negotiations, and spoke to Amiraslanov. After the resettlement plan was canceled.

May 5, 2011 a group of villagers of Askerbeyli, Gasymbeyli and others, went to the motorcade of President Ilham Aliyev. The President met with them and listened to their complaints. He also told to Amiraslanov. An hour later after the meeting, a representative of the Ministry for Emergency Situations called Amiraslanov and offered to meet and resolve their problems on the outskirts of the village of Askerbeyli. Amiraslanov warmed the headquarters “Kura" about the coming meeting, but when he went to the place a men who had come by "Prado" with tinted windows, get out, trying to grab him, but he managed to escape through the reeds. Later on he was subjected constantly to psychological pressure.

After the arrest of Amiraslanov, the head of socio-political department of the Presidential Administration Ali Hasanov, on July 2, at a meeting with representatives of civil society, said the case of the arrested human rights activist Ilham Amiraslanov will be considered at a high level. 

The headquarters of “Kura” civil society insists that the true reason for the arrest of Amiraslanov is his protection of the rights of the people of Aran in the region affected by floods in 2010. After detention in Baku, Amiraslanov wrote a complain to Kamal Kilidjev the General Prosecutor Office for investigation and surveillance investigations in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, that he was subjected to torture and inhuman treatment.—0--