In Azerbaijan, Court of Appeal leaves Ilgar Mamedov and Tofiq Yagublu in custody

The Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the appeals against the arrests of Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the civil movement "Republic Alternative", and Tofiq Yagublu, Deputy Chairman of the "Musavat" Party, accused of organizing riots in the city of Ismailly.

Today, to express their support for the arrested persons, about 50 activists of the opposition and civil society came to the building of the Baku Court of Appeal. Representatives of foreign diplomatic missions and journalists showed their interest to the case against Ilgar Mamedov and Tofiq Yagublu; however, they were not admitted to the trials.

Roland Kobia, the head of the EU delegation in Baku, has stated that the situation with Ilgar Mamedov and Tofiq Yagublu causes concern of the European Union. "No convincing evidence of the guilt of the arrested persons was presented to us. We want the reasonable evidence," Roland Kobia said.

Azerbaijani laws allow judges to consider cases involving decisions on pre-trial restriction measures behind closed doors; however, that contradicts the European Convention on Human Rights. This was stated by Nemat Kerimli, the advocate of Tofiq Yagublu.