The appellate court mitigated the punishment of Azerbaijani activist Zaki.
In Azerbaijan, the appellate court partially granted the appeal against the sentence of activist Zamin Zaki, reducing the prison term by 3 months. However, the defense disagrees with the upholding of the guilty verdict and intends to file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the court sentenced Zamin Zaki to 7 years and 3 months in prison. Zaki himself did not plead guilty.
On April 9, 2025, the head of the Ganja Regional Community Center, Asef Akhmedov, and social issues expert Zamin Zaki were taken to the investigative department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan, where they were charged with economic crimes. They were arrested as part of a renewed case against several Azerbaijani and foreign NGOs. The activists are accused of "official forgery", "abuse of official powers", and "legalization of illegally obtained funds"; the investigation is examining their connections with Western donors, including USAID. The latter's activities were terminated in Azerbaijan by a government decision in February 2025.
Yesterday, on July 1, under the chairmanship of Judge Emin Aliyev, the Baku appellate court reviewed the appeal against Zaki's sentence. As reported to the correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” by an activist present at the trial, the court removed the charge against Zaki under Article 313 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan and reduced the prison term by three months. The total prison term for the activist was reduced to 7 years and 3 months.
“Zamin stated in court that he had committed no crimes. He held no positions and therefore did not engage in money laundering activities. Zamin participated in socially oriented projects,” said the source.
The activist's lawyer, Gunay Ismayilova, told the correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” that despite the mitigation of the sentence, the defense will now file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan. According to her, the defense insists on terminating the criminal case on exculpatory grounds, as Zaki's actions did not constitute a crime.
Ismayilova believes that Zaki's activities were of a public nature, and he held no positions, thus could not have committed official crimes. "The investigation qualified the use of grants as 'legalization of income obtained by criminal means'. However, the origin of these funds cannot be considered 'criminal'. These funds were financial assistance to civil society. The claims that the grants were not registered are not sufficient for criminal prosecution. Azerbaijani legislation only provides for administrative liability for the use of unregistered grants," noted the lawyer.
An employee of the Baku appellate court confirmed the information about the decision in Zaki's case.
Earlier, human rights defenders recognized Zaki as a political prisoner.
The criminal case against local and foreign NGOs was opened back in 2014. At that time, there was a wave of arrests of well-known human rights defenders. Subsequently, they were released early, and the case was suspended. But in March of this year (2025), the case was resumed, taking on the scale of a campaign against the remnants of civil society. More than 100 people were involved in the investigation, including representatives of pro-government NGOs and employees of international donor organizations. Most were interrogated with warnings of new summons, but more than 10 individuals were charged, some in absentia, as they had managed to leave the country," earlier said a legal expert who wished to remain unnamed.