Baku CoA upholds arrest of journalist Mamedli

The complaint against the administrative arrest of the journalist Rovshan Mamedli has been rejected by the Baku Court of Appeal (CoA); however, no proofs of his guilt, except for testimonies of the policemen, who had detained him, were presented, said the Mamedli’s advocate, adding that the defence intends to complain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the freelance journalist Rovshan Mamedli was detained on January 23; and on the following next day he was arrested for 30 days on charges of disobeying police. Shortly before his detention, on January 20, he published an article in defence of Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement.

Today, the Mamedli’s complaint was considered by the Board of Judges of the Baku CoA. The session was a "mere formality", Elchin Sadygov, the Mamedli's advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The judges rejected all the defence’s arguments. We pointed out that the first-instance court failed to conduct an objective investigation. Policemen themselves were the only witnesses,” said Sadygov.

Besides, the defence has noted that the journalist’s detention was actually a kidnapping – for 24 hours his relatives were in the dark about his whereabouts; and Mamedli was not allowed to invite an advocate of his choice.

"Unfortunately, the CoA disregarded all our arguments, and dismissed the complaint," said Sadygov.

He is sure that Rovshan is persecuted for his journalistic activities, in particular, for his coverage of the 'Nardaran case'.

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