Azerbaijan: sentencing of Bakhtiyar Gadjiev postponed

The today's announcement by the Nizami District Court of the city of Gandzha (Azerbaijan) of the sentence to oppositionist Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, accused of evading his regular military service, has failed, because the defendant's advocates have boycotted the session.

"We believe that the court performs a political order and failed to conduct an objective investigation. That is why we boycotted the speech of the state prosecutor and don't want to attend the sentencing. We don't want to be co-actors of this shameful litigation," said the lawyer Elchin Namazov.

The sentencing was scheduled for today at 4:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. Moscow time). However, at this time there was nobody in the courtroom, except for the judge, the state prosecutor and the secretary. The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Vugar Gadjiev, Bakhtiyar's brother that the defendant also refused to go to the court from the SIZO (pre-trial prison).

As explained by Ali Tagiev, head of Nizami District Court, the defendant and his advocates should submit written notifications about their refusal to participate in the trial. According to Tagiev, they will receive official notifications about their right to make the final statement; and if they refuse to appear, the sentence will be announced without them. Therefore, now the trial is postponed indefinitely.