BCA dismisses all defence's motions at trial of CEMDT head

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) chaired by Judge Aflatun Gasymov has held the preliminary court hearing on the complaint lodged by Anar Mamedli, the head of the Centre for Election Monitoring and Democracy Training (CEMDT), and activists Bashir Suleimanly and Elnur Mamedov.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 26, the Baku Court for Grave Crimes pronounced the verdict against Anar Mamedli, the head of the CEMDT, and two other activists: Bashir Suleimanly and Elnur Mamedov. All three defendants were charged with tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, abuse of office, embezzlement, and forgery in office.

In particular, advocate Fariz Namazly, who is protecting the rights of Anar Mamedli and Bashir Suleimanly, has asked to change the pre-trial restriction measure for the defendants from arrest to home arrest. Meanwhile, the advocate has referred to the case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which recommends using arrests in extreme cases, and noted that the defendants do not intend to hide from investigators.

However, public prosecutor Rasul Abbasov argued against all the defence's motions. According to him, the defence has filed to present any solid grounds to replace pre-trial restriction measure for Anar Mamedli and Bashir Suleimanly from arrest to home arrest. The advocates intend to challenge the BCA's decision at the Supreme Court.