Advocate reports on violations of rights of Bairam Mamedov and Giyas Ibragimov in SIZO

On May 24, Bairam Mamedov and Giyas Ibragimov, youth activists, arrested in Azerbaijan, were questioned by an official of the Baku Prosecutor's Office in connection with their complaints about torture. According to their advocate, the young people complained about the distortion of their testimonies.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Giyas Ibragimov, a Facebook user, and Bairam Mamedov, an activist of the "Nida" movement, were detained in Baku on May 10 on charges of illegal drug dealing. The young people were detained in connection with the appearance of graffiti on the pedestal of the monument to Geidar Aliev in Baku, the "Nida" has stated. According to the defence, the defendants refused to plead guilty, stating that they gave their testimonies under torture.

On May 24, advocate Elchin Sadygovvisited Bairam Mamedov and Giyas Ibragimov in the Baku SIZO-1 (pre-trial prison).

"Today, Asim Safaraliev, an investigator of the Baku City Prosecutor's Office, has finally questioned each of the two young men concerning their complaints about torture. Meanwhile, they were questioned without presence of the advocate," Elchin Sadygov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to the advocate, both young men told him that "while recording their testimonies, the investigator changed their words." "For example, instead of the words 'was forced' (at the police station), he wrote 'was offered'. Bairam Mamedov has managed to persuade the investigator to correct the largest part of his testimony. Giyas Ibragimov also objected; however, the investigator recorded his testimony in a short presentation. Therefore, Giyas asked me to treat as actual his testimony given to me and to staff members of the Department of Internal Investigations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA)," explained Elchin Sadygov.

On May 19, the advocate made public the testimony given by Giyas Ibragimov about the torture used by law enforcers. Earlier, Elchin Sadygov has also made public the testimony of torture given by Bairam Mamedov. In turn, the Office of the Azerbaijani Ombudsman has issued a statement that the bodies of Bairam Mamedov and Giyas Ibragimov bear no signs of injuries. On May 20, the advocate reported that on May 19, Bairam Mamedov declared a hunger strike.

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