Court refuses to transfer Afghan Mukhtarly under house arrest

On June 20, the Nasimi District Court of Baku chaired by Judge Babek Panakhov considered a motion to transfer Afghan Mukhtarly under house arrest. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Elchin Sadygov, an advocate of Afghan Mukhtarly.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Afghan Mukhtarly disappeared on May 29 in Tbilisi. On May 30, he telephoned his advocate Nemat Kerimli and said that he was brought to Baku. According to Mukhtarly, during the kidnapping, he was exposed to violence and beatings.

"The law enforcement agencies say that they have no bias towards Afghan Mukhtarly and that ultimately the investigators and the court will 'produce a legal assessment of his deeds.' "Therefore, we proposed to release him from custody for a period of the preliminary and judicial investigation. If the purpose is not in keeping the journalist in custody, then what are the problems? Let him be under house arrest at least for the period of the trial," Elchin Sadygov explained the defence's arguments.

However, according to the advocate, Gasan Nagiev, an investigator from the Investigating Department for Grave Crimes of the General Prosecutor's Office, began to claim that, while at large, Afghan Mukhtarly can flee the country.

"It turns out that the borders of our country are not protected, since, according to the investigator's logic, persons under investigation can escape from the country. Of course, this is an absurd argument. With such international attention to his cause, it does not make sense for Afghan Mukhtarly to flee the country and betray those who believe in his innocence and stands in his defence," stated the advocate.

The Court has finally dismissed the motion to transfer Afghan Mukhtarly under house arrest. The defence intends to challenge the Court's decision at the court of appeal.

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