Trial of activist of the Party of People''s Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA)

Baku/13.01.22/Turan: Today in the Ganja Court of Grave Crimes a preparatory meeting was held on on the case of local activist of the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA), chess coach Shahin Hajiyev.

He is accused under Article 234.4.3 (large scale drug trafficking).

The PPFA believes that he is being persecuted for criticizing the country's leadership.

At the preparatory meeting it turned out that the defendant was not acquainted with materials of the criminal case nor given a bill of indictment. In this regard, the process was postponed to January 21, says the report of the NGO "Line of defense".

The organization questions the credibility of the charges. Thus, according to Rufat Safarov, head of the NGO "Line of defence", the investigation was conducted with violations of the law.

"For example, Hajiyev was detained at home and beaten. However, the case alleges that he was detained in the street," Safarov said.

According to lawyer Zabir Gahramanov, Hajiyev submitted to the court a statement that he was tortured after being detained. According to him, although the examination confirmed that he had injuries on his leg when he was taken to the detention center, the prosecutor's office refused to initiate a criminal case.

Note that Hajiyev was detained in November 2021.-06D-