CoA upholds conviction of activist Yusifli

On October 9, the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA) finished considering the complaint lodged by Asif Yusifli, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), convicted on charges of fraud and document forgery. The CoA upheld the verdict. Yusifli’s advocates intend to file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 30 the Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Asif Yusifli, a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Majlis of the PFPA, to 7.5 years of imprisonment. Asif Yusifli refuses to plead guilty and treats his political activities as the reason for his prosecution.

Namizad Safarov, a lawyer and an expert in law, believes the criminal case against Yusifli is biased.

"As far as I know, there are no crime elements in Yusifli’s actions," Safarov stated to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that, given a lot of mitigating circumstances, the court could resort to conditional punishment.

Gezyal Bayramli, the deputy chair of the PFPA, has stated political motives of the criminal case.

"Being a member of the Presidium of the PFPA, Asif was an active figure in the party. He was always involved in preparing protest actions and was also a fierce defender of social rights of the disabled and veterans of the Karabakh War," Ms Bayramli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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