The court in Azerbaijan sentenced four oppositionists to custody

Nasimi district court of Baku sentenced four oppositional activists arrested in connection with the meeting of April, 2, held in the center of the capital of Azerbaijan to custody terms of one and a half to three years.

Earlier, the "Caucasian Knot" reported that the meeting of April, 2, was organized by "Civil movement for democracy "Public Chamber" (CMDPC) with a demand of democratic reforms, however, the police dispersed the action explaining that it was not authorized by the municipal authorities.

The court acknowledged Ahad Mamedli, Deputy Chairman of "Musavat" party, and Ulvi Guliev, nonpartisan, guilty according to clauses 233 (organizing actions aimed at violation of public order) and 315.1 (resistance to the police) of the Criminal code of Azerbaijan and sentenced them to three years of custody.

Elnur Mejidli and Rufat Gajibeili, members of youth branches of "People's Front" and "Musavat" parties, were acknowledged guilty according to clause 233 and sentenced to 2 and 1,5 years of imprisonment respectively.

It should be reminded that at the trial on October, 4, Public prosecutor asked the court to sentence Mamedli and Guliev to 4,5 years of custody and Mejidli and Gajibeili to 2,5.

At the same time, the court denied a civil act to a sum of six thousand manats (7,2 thousand dollars) for material damage inflicted on the defendants "for the reason of its incorrect form".

The claimants can submit the civil act to court once again in accordance with civil procedure.

The defendants pronounced their last plea in which they rejected all the charges.

Guliev declared that prior verdicts concerning ten participants of the meeting showed that the courts were carrying out the authorities' political put-up jobs. "Let the judges and public prosecutors not think that they will put the Azerbaijani youth to silence. No one shall intimidate us by such verdicts", he said.

"You are sentencing the young people to custody only for chanting "Freedom!" in the street", defendant Mamedli declared.

Mejidli said that the young people came out on April, 2, for one purpose only: to "demand creation of a new Azerbaijan, a country without corruption and violation of human and proprietary rights". "We will not stop our struggle for this goal", he added.

The last defendant, Gajibeili, remarked that the courts violated "not only the young activists' rights but also those of their attorneys who bravely defended the rights of the illicitly arrested".

According to him, the authorities do not even think of any dialogue at the same time calling the oppositionists criminal offenders. "Then just shoot us down next time without performances like show trials", he said.

All those present in the courtroom today, defendants and their advocates from a support group, started chanting "Freedom!" and then singing the hymn of Azerbaijan in reply to the verdict of guilty.

This protest ended in a spontaneous action in the street near the court however the police dispersed the action of protest detaining three of its participants.

Mejidli's attorney Khalid Bagirov called the verdict a "political put-up job". He said that "the court and investigation were forged and the defendants' guilt not proven". "Now the authorities will have an explanation in the European Court of Human Rights and the judges to bear responsibility for their verdict", Bagirov said.

Earlier, ten persons (in two groups) were convicted in connection with the meeting of April, 2, and only one got a conditional sentence. These verdicts met a negative reaction in the international community.