Relatives reported the tightening of Elmir Sadigov's detention conditions in the Azerbaijani colony.
The brother of the convicted Elmir Sadigov, who was sentenced for illegal arms trafficking, stated that the conditions of his detention have been further tightened and linked this to the criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities by his nephew, opposition blogger Tural Sadigly.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in May, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejected the cassation appeal of Elmir Sadigov's defense, a relative of opposition blogger Tural Sadigly. Relatives and Sadigov's lawyer stated that his right to defense was violated and called the court's decision politically motivated.
Tural Sadigly is the administrator of the Azad söz (“Free Word”) page on Facebook*, which sharply criticizes the policies of the Azerbaijani authorities. In May 2019, the Prosecutor's Office of Azerbaijan initiated a criminal case against the exiled blogger, who has been placed on the Interpol wanted list. On March 17, investigators demanded that six political emigrants, including Tural Sadigly, return to Azerbaijan in connection with criminal prosecution. Elmir Sadigov was charged under Article 228.1 (illegal arms trafficking), which provides for up to 3 years of imprisonment.
Elmir Sadigov's punishment regime has been tightened again, and he must serve the remaining time in a closed-type prison, said the convicted man's brother, human rights activist Alovsat Sadigly, to a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".
After the appellate court's decision, the convict was transferred from the pre-trial detention center to correctional facility N14. "Upon arrival at this colony, Elmir was immediately placed in a punishment cell, and then subjected to disciplinary sanctions several more times for allegedly 'violating internal regulations'. All this created a pretext for the court to decide to transfer my brother to a closed-type prison with harsher conditions for a period of 5 months. This term expired on June 20, and Elmir Sadigov was transferred from the closed prison to colony No. 16, where the situation with his disciplinary punishments repeated itself: Elmir Sadigov was again placed in a punishment cell. At the end of last week, we learned that by the court's decision of July 20, my brother would again be sent to a closed prison until the end of his sentence," Alovsat Sadigly said.
He called the court proceedings "a parody of justice". "The repetition of the same illegal actions against the same prisoner in two different correctional facilities cannot be a coincidence and creates a conviction of executing a political order. Elmir continues to be persecuted even after he was arrested and convicted on fabricated charges. Elmir is being punished in retaliation for the criticism of the authorities by my son, blogger Tural Sadigly, who is in political emigration in Germany," Alovsat Sadigly further noted.
The man also reported that he could not obtain official explanations from the state authorities regarding the reasons for the travel ban imposed on him and his wife from leaving Azerbaijan.
The father and mother of Tural Sadigly – 74-year-old Alovsat Sadigly and 71-year-old Matanat Sadigly – were planning to leave Baku on the morning of May 15 to meet their sons living in Europe. However, at Baku International Airport, they were told that a travel ban was in effect for them, Tural Sadigly stated on his Facebook* page. According to him, the couple was informed that the restriction was imposed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
On May 16, Alovsat Sadigly submitted an official request to the State Border Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the General Prosecutor's Office, but not receiving a response, on July 15, he filed complaints against these bodies in court. "Unfortunately, on July 24, Sabail District Court judge Afet Guliyeva refused to consider my complaint. Now I have appealed this decision," he said.
An employee of the Sabail Court confirmed that Alovsat Sadigly's complaint was not accepted for consideration.