Veliev's defence finds Baku court's arrest judgement unjustified

The arrest of Rakhim Veliev, an activist of the Azerbaijani youth "Nida" movement, will be appealed against at the Court of Appeal (CoA), said his advocate, adding that the young man was arrested for 30 days. According to the judgement, the activist had not obeyed the police.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Rakhim Veliev was detained on January 16; and his home was searched. Policemen failed to explain the reasons for detention to his family.

On January 16, the advocate Elchin Sadygov received the text of the judgement on Veliev's arrest at the Narimanov District Court of Baku.

The judgement says that Veliev has been arrested for 30 days for committing the offence under Article 535.1 (disobedience to lawful demands of police) of the Administrative Code of Azerbaijan.

"According to the police, Rakhim Veliev was detained on January 16 in the Narimanov District of Baku near his home. Allegedly, he was approached by a district police inspector and another policeman, who demanded from him to present his ID, but the young man refused, insulted them and even pushed the inspector away," Elchin Sadygov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Sadygov pointed to numerous violations in the administrative case.

"For example, after the detention, Veliev was not allowed to contact his relatives. He was deprived of the right to invite his advocate; and at the trial he was defended by an appointed advocate, who even failed to call his relatives," said Sadygov, adding that he intends to lodge, together with his colleague Javad Javadov, an appeal complaint right today.

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