27 April 2015, 14:03
Court dismisses Jafarov's complaint against rejection of his lawsuit to bank
The Court of Appeal (CoA) has left the complaint lodged by Rasul Jafarov, a rights defender, convicted in Azerbaijan, against the rejection of his civil lawsuit against the Bank Respublika, without satisfaction.
Rasul Jafarov, the coordinator of the campaign "Art for Democracy", was detained on August 2, 2014. On April 16, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes found Rasul Jafarov guilty of illegal entrepreneurial activities, tax evasion, abuse of office, fraud, embezzlement on a large scale and sentenced the human rights defender to six years and six months of imprisonment in a common-security penal colony.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2014, when Jafarov's law suit was considered, he and his supporters provided the court with a video record of Jafarov's conversation with an employee of the Bank Respublika, who told him, even before an official judgement to arrest his accounts, about problems with his account. The court then accepted the video record as evidence, but found no violations in the actions of the bank.
Today, the CoA considered the complaint in a hurry, without going into the merits of the case, Fariz Namazly, Jafarov's defender, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that now the defence intends to file a cassation complaint against the CoA's decision to the country's Supreme Court.
Namazly is convinced that Jafarov's civil lawsuit was rejected for political reasons. "The fact is that if the court had confirmed the blocking of Jafarov's accounts without a court judgement, it would have meant recognition of the political motives of the criminal case against him," said the advocate.
See the "Guide" section of the "Caucasian Knot", where you can find the material "Prosecution of human rights defenders and civil society activists in Azerbaijan".
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent