Trial of bloggers starts in Baku

Today, the Sabail District Court of Baku, under chairmanship of Judge Araz Guseinov, opened a preparatory session on the case of young bloggers Adnan Gadjizade and Emin Milli, accused of hooliganism and rendering of bodily injuries.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that the defendants were brought to the courtroom in handcuffs. Out of the victims, two have appeared - Ilkin Alizade and Vusal Mamedov; the third one - Babek Guseinov - was not present.

Isakhan Ashurov and Elton Guliev, defendants' advocates, petitioned about holding the sessions in a large courtroom because of a great audience, and about video and photo filming. However, Judge Araz Guseinov has rejected both petitions.

A group of young men, who were not admitted to the court building, began chanting outside: "Freedom to Adnan and Emin!"

Advocate of the victims Zaur Ibadov asked to hold the trial in the closed regime, as, according to his version, the issues referring to "state secrets" can be touched on in the litigation. It has caused a stormy reaction of the defendants' advocates, who found this request unreasonable. They petitioned about termination of the criminal prosecution against their clients and returning the case to the prosecutor's office for additional investigation.

Defendant Adnan Gadjizade has also petitioned about termination of the case, saying that his rights had been broken during detention and inquiry. In particular, he was not allowed to contact his advocate. The judge has rejected these petitions.

Then, the defendants' advocates put forward another petition, asking to release their client from custody on bail.

The court retired for consultations, and then announced that all the petitions were rejected; and the trial will start on September 16 at 3:00 p.m.

At the end of the session, the judge allowed Adnan Gadjizade to have a 5-minute meeting with his parents.

In his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, Mr Ibadov, the advocate for the victims, said that should the defendants admit their "crime", reconciliation of the parties will be possible.

In his turn, Isakhan Ashurov, Gadjizade's advocate, has stated that the youth activists are absolutely innocent; and it will become obvious in the course of the trial.

The session was supervised by representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps and international organizations.