Azerbaijani human rights activist taken into custody in courtroom
A Baku court has sentenced human rights activist Fikret Jafarli to four months in prison for slander. Lawyer Elvin Aliyev filed a private prosecution against him. Jafarli denied the charges and said he was being persecuted for his human rights activities and criticism of the Azerbaijan Bar Association.
On July 29, the Binagadi District Court of Baku completed the trial of lawyer Elvin Aliyev's private complaint against Fikret Jafarli, head of the Anti-Torture Investigation Center.
Judge Zamig Bagirov found Jafarli guilty of slander (Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan) and sentenced him to four months in prison. He was taken into custody in the courtroom, the Caucasian Knot correspondent was told in the Binagadi court.
According to the same source, private prosecutor Aliyev considered publications about him on social networks to be slander.
Jafarli reposted a statement by the brother of Elvin Allahverdiyev, who is in prison, who indicated that lawyer Aliyev took 10.5 thousand manats (6.3 thousand US dollars) from Elvin Allahverdiyev, promising to impose a lenient sentence, but did not fulfill his promise and did not return the money to his client. At the same time, according to the author of the message, the contract for the provision of legal services indicated a smaller amount, an employee of the Center for Investigation against Torture told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".
According to him, Jafarli indicated in court that he was not the source of the information and therefore he cannot be held responsible for it.
"Fikret Jafarli indicated that in fact he is being persecuted for criticizing the Bar Association. He pointed out that members of the Bar Association often do not fulfill their professional duties properly. A striking example of this is the story with Jafarli himself. He was defended by a lawyer-assigned and he did not support Jafarli in demanding that the complaint not be accepted for proceedings at all," the employee of the Center said, adding that the verdict will be appealed.
According to him, Jafarli is being persecuted for the activities of the Center in general and in in particular, an active role in exposing torture in the Terter case.
A group of military and civilian personnel were arrested in Baku in the spring of 2017 on charges of collaborating with the Armenian special services and preparing sabotage. During the investigation, eight people were tortured to death, four of whom were later posthumously rehabilitated. In 2021, members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe indicated that over 200 military personnel had been tortured, 11 of whom had died. On November 1, 2021, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor's Office recognized the torture of those accused in the "Terter case". In December 2022, 19 people acquitted in the "Terter case" were released. The court also dropped the cases against two deceased. In January, the acquitted individuals reported that they were being pressured by Azerbaijani authorities, prohibiting them from communicating with each other and with journalists.
Private prosecutor Elvin Aliyev was unavailable for comment.
Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan provides for a fine of 100 to 500 manats (60 to 300 US dollars), or community service for a period of 240 to 480 hours, or correctional labor for up to one year, or imprisonment for up to six months.
The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that on June 10, the Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan published a new list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, including 375 names. The list included six names in the human rights activists category.
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