Azerbaijan: son of "Free Speech" editor put under home arrest

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) has changed the freedom restraint measure of Elgiz Sadygly, a brother of the political emigrant Turad Sadygly, and a son of the ex-members of the "Musavat" Party and editor of the portal "Free Speech" Alovsat Sadygly, by putting him under home arrest.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Alovsat Sadygly and his son Elgiz Sadygly were detained on February 13 in Azerbaijan on suspicion of disobeying policemen and possessing narcotic drugs. On February 14, the court found Alovsat Sadygly innocent and released him from custody, but placed Elgiz Sadygly behind bars. The defence appealed against the decision.

The consideration of the appeal complaint was held today at the Baku CoA, said Alovsat Sadygly, the father of the young Elgiz. "To be honest, the CoA's decision was a complete surprise for us. We didn't hope that the complaint would be satisfied; however, the CoA decided to release Elgiz from custody and place him under home arrest," he explained.

Along with that, Alovsat Sadygly does not treat the CoA's decision as "a triumph of justice." "Everything is done on the orders from the top. An order was downloaded to arrest – and they arrested. Now, a new order arrived to release him – and they did it. On the other hand, it doesn't at all mean that Elgiz will be acquitted in the end," he said.

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