17:39, 2 August 2014

Azerbaijan: rights defender Rasul Djafarov arrested for three months

On Saturday, in Azerbaijan, Rasul Djafarov (Jafarov), a coordinator of the campaign "Art for Democracy", has been detained. He is taken into custody for three months, and he was accused of economic crimes. Rasul Djafarov refuses to plead guilty, his advocate Khalid Bagirov said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July, Rasul Djafarov was banned from leaving Azerbaijan, and his bank accounts were arrested. On July 31, the human rights defender was questioned as a witness in the case against a number of NGOs, and his apartment was searched.

Rasul Djafarov was charged under Article 192 (illegal business), Article 213 (tax evasion), and Article 308 (abuse of power) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. This was reported by the human rights defender's advocate.

"Investigators even failed to present any clear primary evidence against Rasul Djafarov. The investigators' request for arrest was based on allegations and not on factual evidence," Khalid Bagirov says. According to him, the case is politically motivated.

The defender has added that the decision on the pre-trial restriction measure will be challenged as the Court of Appeal.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent