US Department of State and British Foreign Office condemn guilty verdict against Intigam Aliev in Baku

The US Department of State and the British Foreign Office have expressed their concern over the fact that in Azerbaijan, Intigam Aliev was sentenced to imprisonment and urged to release him. Baku officials reject criticism in connection with the verdict of guilty against the human rights defender.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on April 22, the court in Baku found Intigam Aliev, the head of the non-profit organization (NPO) "Society of Legal Education", guilty of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurial activities, misappropriation or embezzlement on a large scale and sentenced him to 7.5 years of imprisonment in a common-security penal colony.

Being one of the well-known human rights defenders in the country and the head of the NPO "Society of Legal Education", Intigam Aliev "actively worked to promote the rule of law in Azerbaijan and protection of peaceful activists: he sent hundreds of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and won many of those cases." This was announced in the statement made by Marie Harf, the acting spokesperson the US Department of State, published on the website of the US Department of State.

The British Foreign Office has also expressed its concern over the guilty verdict against Intigam Aliev and called doubtful the charges filed against the human rights defender.

According to the statement, Intigam Aliev is included in the alarming long list of human rights defender sentenced to long imprisonment terms in Azerbaijan.

Khikmet Gadjiev, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Azerbaijan, has declared that the criminal prosecution against Intigam Aliev is not connected with his human rights activities.

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