Ali Insanov refuses to participate in appeal trial

Ali Insanov, former Azerbaijani Minister for Public Health, has refused to participate in the consideration of his appeal against the verdict of guilty. He has entrusted the protection of his rights at the trial to his advocates. At the preliminary hearing at the Court of Appeal, all the defence motions were dismissed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2007, Ali Insanov was sentenced on the charges of bribery and economic crimes. In August 2016, when his term of imprisonment was about to expire, he was accused of possession of drugs and an attack on a penitentiary service officer. On April 26, the court sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment.

Azerbaijani human rights defenders recognized Ali Insanov as a political prisoner. He himself also repeatedly pointed to political motives in his case.

"Over the 12 years passed since the arrest of Ali Insanov, more than 100 court hearings on his case were held. No court decision was pronounced in favour of Ali Insanov. Therefore, he considers that senseless to participate in those trials," explained advocate Agaveis Shakhverdi.

Ali Insanov was also included in the list of 162 political prisoners compiled by the Centre for the Protection of Political Prisoners.

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