Azerbaijani court starts considering appeal on verdict to Mursalli

In Azerbaijan, the court has begun considering the appeal complaint against the verdict of guilty passed to Elsever Mursalli, a 20-year-old user of social networks, who was sentenced to five years of imprisonment on charges of drug dealing, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports. At the court hearing, the court has questioned Elsever Mursalli’s neighbours and parents as defence witnesses.

On October 3, 2013, Elsever Mursalli was arrested in the city of Khachmaz. On April 3, 2014, the Baku Court on Grave Crimes found Elsever Mursalli guilty under Article 234.4.3 (illegal purchase or possession of drugs on a large scale for sale) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan and sentenced him to five years of imprisonment.

According to Bagirov, Elsever Mursalli has pleaded not guilty. "The young man has stated that in autumn, during the election campaign for the presidential election in Azerbaijan, he actively supported Djamil Gasanli, an opposition presidential candidate of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF)," the advocate has said.

"The Elsever Mursalli's parents have reported that when Elsever was kept at the Khachmaz police station, a policeman came to them and said: 'Your son has committed a political blunder in Facebook.' Here, we face another evidence of the political nature of the criminal case," the advocate believes.

The next court session is scheduled for June 24.

See earlier reports: "Azerbaijani "Nida" activists tell the court about power agents' pressure", "Alisoy, PFPA activist, sentenced to administrative arrest in Azerbaijan", "PFPA believes that its office was blown up intentionally (+video)".