BCA finds no grounds for investigating Guseinov’s torture

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has upheld the refusal of the Prosecutor's Office to launch an investigation of the application lodged by the blogger Mekhman Guseinov about torturing him after detention.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 9, after the detention of Guseinov, his advocate Elchin Sadygov asked the Prosecutor's Office to investigate the fact of torturing the blogger by policemen. The refusal of the Prosecutor's Office was then appealed against at the court, but on March 28 the Sabail District Court of Baku rejected the appeal complaint.

In response to Guseinov's accusations, the head of the Nasimi District Police Department of Baku demanded to make the blogger criminally liable for a slander; and on March 3, 2017, the Surakhani District Court of Baku sentenced the blogger to two years of imprisonment.

Mekhman Guseinov was not brought to the today's session of the BCA, which examined the blogger's complaint about the above refusal of the Prosecutor's Office, as Elchin Sadygov, the blogger’s advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, treating it as a violation of his client’s right to defence. The BCA, which upheld the judgement of the lower instance, failed to conduct an objective inquiry, Mr Sadygov believes.

He added that the defence had exhausted the domestic means of challenging the refusal of the Prosecutor's Office. "Our way is now to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)," said Elchin Sadygov.

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