Azerbaijani prosecutor demands 7 years in prison for head of educational centre "Intellectual Citizen"

The Nizami District Court of the Azerbaijani city of Ganja (Gandzha) has finished the judicial inquiry into the case opened against Gasan Guseinli, the head of the NGO "Intellectual Citizen" Educational Centre, who is accused of hooliganism. On July 4, the prosecutor delivered his closing speech and asked to find Guseinli guilty and sentence him to 7 years of imprisonment. The defence disagreed with the statement and intends to insist on acquittal.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the 57-year-old Gasan Guseinli was detained in the city of Ganja on March 31. He is accused of hooliganism committed with use of weapons. Guseinli is under threat of up to seven years in prison.

According to Alaif Gasanov, an advocate for Guseinli, on July 4 Judge Ayaz Makhmudov announced the completion of the judicial investigation and immediately gave the floor to the state prosecutor. In Gasanov's opinion, "the court is trying to quickly complete the trial, which has a clear political character."

He also noted that there is no evidence against Guseinli. Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said that Guseinli had stabbed Arzu Gakhramanov, a Ganja resident, into his arm.

On April 2, more than 50 civil society activists issued a statement condemning Guseinli's arrest and treating the charge moved against him as "totally far-fetched."