Defendants in "Nardaran case" go on hunger strike

Today, the judge, who is running the case of citizens of Azerbaijan, accused of riots in the settlement of Nardaran, has dismissed over 50 defence's motions; in particular, he refused to admit the defendants to the trial. In protest against his actions, all the defendants went on hunger strike.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the trial of the "Nardaran case" began in Baku on August 3, 2016. On December 14, the judge, dissatisfied with the behaviour of the defendants in the "Nardaran case", removed some of them from the courtroom; other defendants expressed solidarity and also refused to participate in the trial. After that, the defendants rejected their advocates in order "not to give the appearance of legality to the staged trial," but the judge forced the defenders to continue taking part in the trial.

Today, the defendants' advocates have lodged a collective petition asking to return their clients into the courtroom, as Yalchin Imanov, the defender of Bagirzade and four other figurants, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"We've stated that the situation is strange: the defendants are not let into the courtroom; however, at the same time, the court failed to satisfy their refusal from their advocates. However, Judge Alovsat Abbasov refused to return the defendants into the court room," said Yalchin Imanov.

In total, according to his story, the defence has put forward over 50 petitions – none of them was satisfied.

Starting today, the defendants have gone on a protest hunger strike. "They are outraged at the fact that they are brought from the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and kept the whole day in the cold concrete basement. Some of them are already sick," said Imanov.

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