At trial of Gurban Mamedov, his guilt was not proved, lawyers assert

The guilt of the Azerbaijani lawyer Gurban Mamedov of committing a road accident with bodily harm has not been proved by investigators, while the allegations of bribing the victim are baseless, said Mamedov's advocates. The trial could have been initiated for political reasons, said the observer Tofig Tyurkel.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the trial of Gurban Mamedov, a well-known Azerbaijani lawyer and a member of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), was launched on September 11. The state prosecutor offered to sentence him to three years of imprisonment.

According to investigators, on September 27, 2012, in Baku, Mamedov, while driving a car, knocked down a car park superintendent. Later, investigators stated that Mamedov had bribed the victim by paying for his treatment.

In his closing speech, Mamedov said that he had been arrested for political reasons; it happened 10 months after the accident, which occurred due to the fault of the victim. For many months, no investigatory actions were conducted.

Mamedov said that the superintendent had himself commanded the defendant's manoeuvring at the car park. Furthermore, Mamedov denied the charge of bribing the victim, saying that he helped him in treatment for purely humanitarian reasons.

Let us note here that Mamedov took an active part in the national-democratic movement of the late 1980s-early 1990s; he defended the rights of some political prisoners. Recently, he publicly criticized the Azerbaijani authorities for corruption and human rights violations.