Baku court rejects re-trial of the case of convicted members of Islamic Party

On November 17, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) held the initial court session chaired by Judge Gasan Akhmedov on the case of Movsum Samedov, the leader of the Islamic Party of Azerbaijan (IPA), and six activists of the party and believers.

Let us remind you that on October 7, the Baku Court on Grave Crimes found the activists of the party guilty under four Articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, including Articles of terrorism and seizure of power. The Court sentenced Movsum Samedov to 12 years of imprisonment. The remaining defendants in the case were sentenced to 10-11.5 years of imprisonment.

At the BCA's initial session, the defendants' lawyers filed motions requesting to conduct re-trial. They motivated their position by the fact that the first instance court considered the case with violations of procedural rules.

In particular, according to Anar Gasymov, the Samedov's lawyer, the court has ignored the numerous motions of the defence. Besides, "the court failed to estimate non-conformity of testimonies with the regulations of the Code of Criminal Procedure", for example, witnesses' testimonies were based on their experience and failed to address the merits of the case.

The lawyers believe that the statement of the main defendant have been taken out of context. The involvement of witnesses, who, according to Anar Gasymov, "were certainly people who cooperated with the police", has also been criticized.

However, the prosecutors opposed the re-trial.

Judge Gasanov dismissed the defence's motions and appointed trial on the merits for December 1.

The lawyers claimed that they would file an appeal against the decision. According to Anar Gasymov, the process at the court of appeal is suspended till the Supreme Court considers the appeal of (the law defines the consideration period of up to 1 month).

A large group of the Islamists' supporters attended the process. However, the court session passed without incident.

On November 20, the IPA plans to hold in Baku a protest action with a number of demands, including release of the convicted activists.

"We were going to hold a rally demanding the government to take decisive action on the Karabakh problem, respect for constitutional freedoms of citizens, including religious rights, and elimination of restrictions on hijab wearing at schools. We also demand to stop prosecution against all innocent detainees, the leader and the activists of our party, other believers, who spoke in defence of hijab, the representatives of other political parties," said Akif Geidarli, Deputy Chairman of the IPA.