Court starts trial of third group of defendants, accused of riots in Guba

On October 3, the Guba District Court of Azerbaijan, chaired by Judge Fizuli Panakhov, started court hearings on merits on the case of the third group of the defendants, accused of the riots in the city of Guba, occurred on March 1. The case involves seven defendants.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that on March 1, about 10,000 persons attended the rally in the city of Guba. They demanded resignation of Rauf Gabibov, the head of the district executive authorities, in connection with the video, posted on the Internet, in which he made a number of allegations against Guba residents. The protest action turned into riots, during which the villa, belonging to Rauf Gabibov, was burned, and auxiliary buildings of the district administration were damaged.

Four out of seven defendants Akif Aliev, Gabil Aliev, Safar Garibov, and Zimistan Amiraslanov are under arrest, three more defendants Tlman Dadashev, Samir Abdullaev, and Mamedgasan Akbarov are free and they signed recognizance not to leave. All of them all charged under Article 186.2.1 (destruction or damage of other people's property in a large scale), Article 186.2.2 (destruction of other people's property by arson, which led to grave consequences), Article 233 (organization of violation of public order or participation in such violations), and Article 315.2 (use of violence, dangerous to life and health of a government official) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

Akif Aliev, who worked as an administrator of the stadium of the Guba Olympic Complex, was also charged under Article 127.2.3 of the Criminal Code (infliction of less serious damage of health of hooligan motive). The defendants are being defended by public lawyers. Only Aliev has his own lawyer Asabali Mustafaev.

At the trial, the defendants pleaded not guilty. Asabali Mustafaev, the Aliev's lawyer, filed a number of motions: in particular, to transfer the defendants out from the bars and let them sit with their lawyers.

"The Judge said that the motion was granted; however, for technical reasons, the courtroom had no capacity to provide the defendants with places close to their lawyers. He promised to provide that starting from the next session," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Asabali Mustafaev.

He also made a motion to stop criminal proceedings against Aliev. According to the lawyer, the preliminary investigation against his client committed numerous procedural violations, including the fact that he was not provided with a lawyer in due time. However, the motion was dismissed.

Asabali Mustafaev has also pointed to the fact that the protest action of March 1 cannot be treated as unsanctioned, since, the Constitution provides Azerbaijani citizens with the right for freedom of assembly and no sanction is required for spontaneous protest actions.

Secondly, according to the lawyer, the prosecutors argue that the speech of Rauf Gabibov was fabricated. "However, that fact is refuted by the very indictment," the lawyer believes.

"Rauf Gabibov gave testimony that his speech at the meeting of the district executive authorities was shot by several TV Channels. However, at present, no TV Channel maintained the full version of the official's speech. In this case, it is not correct to argue that the speech was fabricated, since there is no evidence of that fact," Asabali Mustafaev has explained.

According to him, "the absence of evidence of fabrication suggests that Rauf Gabibov did say insulting remarks against Guba residents and that caused the protest action."

Thirdly, according to the lawyer, the people, who attended the square, could not be aware of the fact that the video had been fabricated, even if it were true.

Asabali Mustafaev also opposed the recognition of Rauf Gabibov, the former head of the Guba District, as a victim. "He should be questioned not as a victim, but as a witness," the lawyer believes. In particular, he has noted that the house set on fire does belong not to Rauf Gabibov, but to his wife. "There are no documents, proving that the house is their joint property," the lawyer said.

Besides, Asabali Mustafaev also drew attention to the fact that the criminal case against all 32 defendants of the events in Guba was instituted under Article 186.1 (damage of other people's property).

"However, prior to sending cases to courts, the charges had been amended by aggravating articles Article 186.2.1 (destruction or damage of other people's property in a large scale) and Article 186.2.2 (destruction of other people's property by arson, which led to grave consequences). In accordance with the procedural law, the Articles require complaints from victims. However, the case materials contain no relevant complaints from Rauf Gabibov or the Guba executive authorities," the lawyer stated. He has noted that "during questioning, Gabibov said that he had no complaints."

The lawyer filed a motion to cancel charges under Article 186.2.1 (destruction or damage of other people's property in a large scale) and Article 186.2.2 (destruction of other people's property by arson, which led to grave consequences). However, the Judge dismissed the motion.

The trial will be continued on October 17.

Till present, no comments of the prosecutors are available. The General Prosecutor's Office and its Department for Grave Crimes, which investigates the Guba events, refuse to comment on the course of the judicial investigation.