Defendants in "Nardaran case" refuse to plead guilty

Today, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes has begun considering the case of Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the movement "Muslim Unity", and other 17 persons accused of committing a number of grave crimes. The indictment was read out at the court session.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 26, 2015, in the city of Nardaran, during a special operation, the raid power agents detained 14 persons, including Talekh Bagirzade. This provoked riots, during which seven persons were killed.

At the end of the August 3 court session, Fariz Namazly, an advocate of Abbas Khuseinov, made a statement for the media on behalf of all the defenders. He said that the indictment had been announced at the trial. The defendants refused to plead guilty.

"Talekh Bagirzade has stated that the special operation in Nardaran was a pre-planned provocation of the authorities. He said he and other believers had been doing their namaz (prayer), when some 20-30 armed men broke into the premise. Bagirzade said that these persons saw no armed resistance. He believes that since no armed resistance was rendered, the death of two policemen could be the work of the authorities themselves," said Namazly.

He also said that during the trial his client Abbas Khuseinov stated use of torture against him to force him to give confessions.

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