18:05, 13 August 2014

Azerbaijani court upholds detention of rights defender Intigam Aliev

In Azerbaijan, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has dismissed the complaint filed by the human rights defender Intigam Aliev about his arrest and left him in custody. The defence does not agree with the BCA's decision and intends to file a motion to change the pre-trial restriction measure to home arrest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 8, the Nasimi District Court of Baku arrested Intigam Aliev, the head of the Legal Education Society (LES) for three months.

"Intigam Aliev faces charges of economic crimes. He is not a dangerous criminal to be held in custody. On the other hand, if he wanted to hide from investigators, then he would not return from his foreign business trip on the eve of his arrest, since he knew about the investigation into the criminal case against his NGO," states Fariz Namazly, an advocate of Intigam Aliev.

According to the advocate, Intigam Aliev himself has once again claimed the political motives of the criminal proceedings against him. "Intigam Aliev said that he was arrested for assisting citizens of Azerbaijan in the proper preparation of complaint to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)," the advocate has said.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent