Baku court dismisses defence's appeal against detention of Afghan Mukhtarly

The defence of Afghan Mukhtarly intends to challenge the court's refusal to grant the complaint about the journalist's detention and prepares an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). On June 16, in the Afghan Mukhtarly's case, the Azerbaijani General Prosecutor's Office questioned Isa Gambar, a well-known opposition politician, the former leader of the "Musavat" Party. He has claimed far-fetched charges filed against the journalist.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that journalist Afghan Mukhtarly was accused of crossing the border illegally, smuggling, and resisting a border guard.

"We treat the detention as illegal and the protocol as fabricated. Afghan Mukhtarly was detained not at the crossing of the border in a wrong place, but he was handed over to border guards by the persons who kidnapped him in Georgia. However, the court failed to carry out an objective investigation and did not satisfy the motion to review video records from surveillance cameras installed at border checkpoint Mazymchay in the Balaken District, through which Afghan Mukhtarly was transported to Azerbaijan," Sadygov noted.

He has also noted that "the Afghan Mukhtarly's case contain obvious signs of violation of a number of articles of the European Convention on Human Rights, including articles on the right to freedom, fair trial, freedom of expression, and prohibition of torture."

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