In Nakhichevan, court sentences oppositional activist Zeinal Bagirzade to 7.5 years of imprisonment

Today, the Azerbaijani Nakhichevan Court for Serious Crimes completed the process against Zeinal Bagirzade, the local oppositional activist. The court sentenced him to 7.5 years of imprisonment, having found the defendant guilty on three Articles of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, including fraud. According to the Zeinal Bagirzade's lawyer, the verdict will be challenged.

The prosecutor asked to sentence Zeinal Bagirzade to 8 years of imprisonment. The court found him guilty under Articles 178.3.2 (fraud), 310 (assignment of power), and 320.2 (use of forged documents) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

In his final speech, Zeinal Bagirzade has stated that if convicted, he will intend to go on an indefinite hunger strike. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Malakhat Nasibova, the head of the Regional Resource Centre for NGOs' development and democracy. The defendant has explained his decision that "he had nothing to lose, since in prison conditions he would not be able to recover from deceases resulting from radiation exposure."

However, according to Malakhat Nasibova, the local activists have managed to persuade Zeinal Bagirzade not to resort to extreme measures at present, since there is still a possibility to obtain justice in the higher court instances.

In connection with the pronouncement of the verdict, the trial was attended by a large group of Zeinal Bagirzade's countrypersons from the village of Nekhram of the Babek District. He himself asked to pass to the villagers his request to remain calm.

Asabali Mustafaev, the lawyer of the Zeinal Bagirzade, has expressed his regret about the fact that the judicial investigation was not objective.

"Actually, they rewrote the indictment into the verdict. At the same time, the court failed to give a legal assessment of the evidence presented by the defence. In particular, we had presented the document issued by the Babek military enlistment office in 2008 to Zeinal Bagirzade about confirmation of his participation in the liquidation of consequences of disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by the lawyer.

Besides, according to his story, in 2004 the Azerbaijan Chernobyl Disabled Persons' Union had confirmed on the basis of the conclusion of the medical examination that Zeinal Bagirzade's son suffer from a radiation sickness, transmitted by inheritance from his father.

He has also emphasized that the court failed to consider mitigating circumstances: Zeinal Bagirzade's disability (Category 2 invalid) and the fact that he takes care of his son, also Category 2 invalid.

Comments of the prosecutors' party are unavailable.