Azerbaijani Court of Appeal keeps human rights defender Talekh Khasmamedov in custody

Today, the Shirvan Court of Appeal of Azerbaijan dismissed the appeal, which was filed by Talekh Khasmamedov, the human rights defender, the leader of the NGO "Law and Order", against the decision of the Goychay District Court.

Let us remind you that on April 20, the Goychay District Court sentenced Talekh Khasmamedov to 4 years of imprisonment under Article 221.3 (hooliganism committed with use of weapons or objects used as weapons) and Article 315.1 (resistance to a power representative with use of violence) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The defence treats the decision of the Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Ismail Akhmedov as politically motivated and unlawful and intends to file an appeal. Asabali Mustafaev, the lawyer of Talekh Khasmamedov, and Oktai Gyulalyev, the co-founder of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", believe that Talekh Khasmamedov is being prosecuted for his active civil position, his fight for human rights, and his activities in social networks.

According to Oktai Gyulalyev, the political nature of the criminal proceedings against Talekh Khasmamedov was recognized internationally. The human rights defender has noted that the journalist was put on the list of alleged political prisoners, compiled by Christopher Strasser, PACE Rapporteur.

In his turn, Talekh Khasmamedov believes that the charges against him were fabricated by Takhir Guliev, Chief of the Udjary District Police Division, Ilham Akhmedov, his deputy, and Chingiz Iskenderov, District Judge.

Representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) refuted the Talekh Khasmamedov's allegations of unlawful activities of the Udjary police.