AI calls on to revise verdict on "Nardaran case"

The advocates of Fariz Namazly, Yalchin Imanov, Nemat Kerimli and Fakhraddin Mekhtiev, defendants in the so-called "Nardaran case", have lodged an appeal complaint with a request to acquit their clients. The human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) has also urged to revise the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 25 a court in Baku sentenced Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement, and his 16 supporters, accused of riots in the village of Nardaran, as well as the deputy chairman of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA).

According to Namazly, the defence asks to admit the violation of the defendants’ presumption of innocence, as at the start of the inquiry, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) announced them as criminals.

The advocates also pointed to gross violations of their clients’ rights during the investigation and obtaining confessions by torture.

Yalchin Imanov has noted that in the case of Gakhramanly, there was no criminal event, as they "just through the Facebook expressed their opinions about the events in Nardaran."

According to the AI, the Azerbaijani authorities should investigate the violations of the right to a fair trial and facts of torture against Talekh Bagirzade and 17 other defendants.

The statement says that "the confessions obtained under torture cannot be considered as evidence," and that the convicts should be released.

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