BCA dismisses appeals filed by Intigam Aliev's defence

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has held a preliminary court session to consider the motions filed by advocates of human rights defender Intigam Aliev. All the motions have been dismissed. Djavad Djavadov, an Intigam Aliev's advocate, treats the BCA's actions as violation of the defendant's right to protection.

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.

"The Court's dismissal of all our motions and the dismissal of even such a technical issue as permission for the defendant to sit together with his advocates prove the fact that the Court is biased against Intigam Aliev. I see no sense in filing an appeal against the preliminary court session. We will file a cassation appeal following the results of the trial at the Baku Court of Appeal. The sooner we go through the national public institutions, the sooner we will be able to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for consideration on the merits," Djavad Djavadov has noted.

According to the advocate, the ECtHR has completed communication concerning the first appeal of Intigam Aliev.

"The appeal was filed immediately after the arrest of Intigam Aliev. In our appeal, we raise the questions of violation of Intigam Aliev's rights under Article 5 (right to liberty), Article 11 (right to freedom of assembly and association), and Article 18 (prohibition of discrimination on political grounds). The communication has been completed. In the next several months, at the latest before the end of this year, the Strasbourg   Court will pronounce its decision," the advocate has said.

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