Azerbaijani SC upholds verdict to Rufat Safarov

The Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has dismissed an appeal filed against the verdict to Rufat Safarov, a former investigator of the Prosecutor's Office, who was sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment in the case of a repeated bribe receipt. The defence has declared political motives for the prosecution of Rufat Safarov and announced the intention to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 22, 2016, the court of appeal upheld the verdict to Rufat Safarov.

In the course of a court hearing, advocates Bakhruz Bairamov, Yalchin Imanov, and Fariz Namazli have declared that the former investigator is not guilty and requested the court to close the criminal case.

Yalchin Imanov has also declared there is no reliable evidence of the Rufat Safarov's guilt.

Rufat Safarov himself has claimed "the criminal case was instituted after an interview given to the media."

"They arrested me to stop my criticism against the authorities... The investigative actions were resumed after I had condemned the institution of a new criminal case in a penal colony against Ali Insanov, the former Minister for Public Health. But I could not remain silent when two months before the completion of his 11-year sentence, the 70-year-old scientist was accused of using violence against a young justice officer," claimed Rufat Safarov.

Eldar Sabiroglu, the father of Rufat Safarov, one of the founders of the ruling "Yeni Azerbaijan" Party, has treated the SC's decision as "harsh."

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