In Azerbaijan, Ali Gyulalyev's father claims political motives of case against his son

The charge against Ali Gyulalyev, who is accused of disorderly conduct, has been fabricated for political reasons, stated opposition activist Oktai Gyulalyev, the father of the defendant.

On August 29, the Khatai District Court of Baku chaired by Judge Bakhtiyar Mamedov started the preparatory court hearing on the case. However, it has been postponed, since the victim failed to appear at the trial and the defendant had no advocate.

"The criminal case has been falsified in order to distract attention from the investigation into the attack on Ali himself committed on September 23, 2013, when he got a knife wound. Rather than to investigate the above attack, the court charges Ali with disorderly conduct allegedly in connection with his participation on September 20 in a fight at the school No. 165, where he is studying. The charge was filed 11 months after the attack on Ali," Oktai Gyulalyev has said.

Meanwhile, he has drawn attention to the fact that the investigation into the case of disorderly conduct "is being conducted not by the district police as usually, but by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Baku Police." According to Oktai Gyulalyev, this fact proves "the political order of the authorities."

According to Djamil Gasanli, the leader of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), the criminal case against Ali Gyulalyev became the next one in a series of the cases instituted against relatives of opposition members and rights defenders. Djamil Gasanli believes that Ali Gyulalyev is being prosecuted for his recent active protection of political prisoners.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.