Aslan Ismajlov's lawyer license suspended in Azerbaijan; he intends to fight for his status

Azerbaijani authorities have stopped the authorities of the well-known lawyer Aslan Ismajlov. On May 8, the Presidium of the Bar of Azerbaijan decided to suspend his advocacy and the law firm "Aslan Ismajlov and Partners" founded by him. It was also decided to file a lawsuit on termination Ismajlov's advocacy practice and expel him from the Bar. Ismajlov himself has treated these decisions as illegal and politically motivated.

Aslan Ismajlov is a well-known lawyer in Azerbaijan. He defended figurants in many high-profile cases involving issues of property and violations of civil and political rights.

The reason for the suspension of Ismajlov's professional activity was in the complaint lodged by Elnur Gasanov, a judge of the Sabail District Court of Baku, Aslan Ismajlov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent today.

"The point is that on February 10, I complained about Elnur Gasanov to the Judicial-Legal Council because of the bias of the judge. Two days later, he wrote complaint to the Bar that I had allegedly insulted him in his office. But this was not the case. Nevertheless, the judge's complaint was considered, while mine was not, which is in itself an indication of bias against me," said Ismajlov.

The lawyer believes that he is under pressure due to his public criticism on the problems with corruption, human rights violations and voluntarism of the employees of the judicial system.

"In the last two years I've repeatedly criticized the head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mekhdiev," said Ismajlov.

According to Azer Tagiev, the chairman of the Bar, they are not going to comment on the decisions of the Bar on Ismajlov's case. "We cannot say anything about this case, because all of our information refers to the lawyer's secrecy. The law "On Advocacy" states that the data that we possess shall not be disseminated," the "modern.az" quotes Azer Tagiev as saying.