Azerbaijani court leaves Intigam Aliev behind bars

A district court in Baku has dismissed the petition lodged by Intigam Aliev, the head of the Legal Education Society (LES), asking to change his freedom restraint from custody to home arrest. Meanwhile, his defence complains that the administration of the SIZO (pre-trial prison) is censoring Aliev's notes intended for his advocates.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Aliev is accused of tax evasion, abuse of power and illegal entrepreneurship.

According to his advocate Anar Gasymly, "it is quite enough for investigators to keep Aliev under home arrest; moreover that since his detention virtually no investigative action against him were carried out. If Intigam Aliev had had any intent to hide from the inquiry, he could have easily stayed abroad, where he was on a business trip shortly before his detention."

Also, according to the lawyer, the court has rejected the motion on violations of the law during the search in the office of the LES and Aliev's house.

"They confiscated electronic media belonging to Aliev's family, as well as materials relating to the protection of citizens' rights at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). It all has nothing to do with the criminal case," said Gasymly.

The defence intends to appeal against these decisions of the district court at the Court of Appeal (CoA).

At the SIZO, they continue censoring Aliev's notes intended for his advocates and concerning his defence tactics, said Djavad Djavadly, another Aliev's advocate.