10:37, 16 April 2015

Baku Court announces guilty verdict to Rasul Jafarov

Rasul Jafarov at the rally in support of Pussy Riot in Baku, September 1, 2012. Photo by Aziz Karimov.

Today, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes has found human rights defender Rasul Jafarov guilty on all charges and sentenced him to 6 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

The Court has ruled that the human rights defender is to serve his sentence in a common-security penal colony.

According to the verdict, upon completion of his prison sentence, Rasul Jafarov will not be able to work at important positions in public and municipal bodies during three years.

Rasul Jafarov himself called the charges fabricated and treated the sentence as a political order, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Rasul Jafarov, the coordinator of the campaign "Arts for Democracy", who was detained on August 2, 2014, was charged with illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, abuse of power, fraud and a large-scale embezzlement. Jafarov finds the charges baseless and politically motivated. The international human rights organization "Amnesty International" has recognized him as a "prisoner of conscience".

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent