Activist who first exposed crimes in "Tartar case" was arrested

Baku/29.01.22/Turan: Lawyer Ilham Aslanoglu (Tahmazov), who was one of the first to expose the facts of tortures in the "Tartar case", was arrested for 5 months on charges of defamation. This was reported to Turan by political analyst Arastun Orujlu. 

According to him, on January 28, Yevlakh region court found Aslanoglu guilty under Art. 147.2 (slander of felony) and sentenced him to five months of imprisonment. The activist was taken into custody in the courtroom.

The father of Vasif Guliyev who died in the 44-day war -  Tahir Guliyev acted as a plaintiff in the case.

The reason for the lawsuit was Aslanoglu's statement in social networks that V. Guliyev was involved in the death of senior lieutenant Adil Sabirli, tormented to death due to tortures during the investigation of the Terter case in 2017.  In doing so, Aslanoglu referred to Sabirli's father.

As political analyst Orujlu noted, Aslanoglu's arrest showed that the assignment of a new criminal proceeding in the Terter case has yielded exactly the opposite.

"A month and a half has passed since the reopening of the criminal proceedings. However, no one has yet been arrested, although the perpetrators are known. On the contrary, the person who was the first to expose these crimes has been arrested," Orujlu told Turan.

He believes that the forces concerned are trying to hush up the case and if the country's leadership does not intervene and ensure the restoration of justice, public confidence in the state will be finally undermined.

"The fact is that the 'Terter case" is not just a crime but an attack on the very existence of the people," Orujlu said.

*On May 7, 2017, Azerbaijan's General Prosecutor's Office, State Security Service, Defense Ministry and Interior Ministry reported detaining a group of servicemen and civilians for espionage in favor of Armenia's intelligence services.

The Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case under Article 274 (high treason) of the Criminal Code.  The detainees were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. However, it soon became known that during the investigation, at least 11 suspects were killed as a result of tortures. Four of the murdered were later acquitted while the investigators who fabricated charges against them were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

On December 18, the General Prosecutor's Office announced the reopening of criminal proceedings in the Teter case.-06B-