Anar Mamedli: CoE should urge Azerbaijani authorities to reconsider Dashgyn Melikov's case

The verdict of guilty to Dashgyn Melikov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) is politically motivated. This was stated by his advocate Asabali Mustafaev. Anar Mamedli, a representative of the Defence Alliance for Political Freedoms, the Council of Europe (CoE) should urge the Azerbaijani authorities to reconsider the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that today, the Sumgait City Court of Azerbaijan found Dashgyn Melikov, the activist of the PFPA, guilty of illegal possession of drugs. At the court session held on June 27, public prosecutor Geidar Shakhmuradov asked the Court to sentence Dashgyn Melikov to three years of imprisonment.

Asabali Mustafaev has emphasized that during the preliminary investigation and during the trial, it was not revealed how drugs got to the defendant.

"The Court also did not take into account our evidence proven by medical certificates that a person suffering from bronchial asthma could not use drugs. Despite the fact that Dashgyn Melikov is a Category II invalid, the Court sentenced him to 2.5 years of imprisonment, although it could pronounce the conditional sentence. This is further evidence for the political nature of the criminal case," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Asabali Mustafaev.

According to his story, the verdict will be challenged at the Court of Appeal. He also did not rule out the possibility of challenging the verdict at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).