14:10, 26 December 2017

Defence reports new case opened against "Muslim Unity" leader

Posters with the photos of Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement. Baku, April 8, 2017. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has suspected Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement, who is serving his 20-year-long imprisonment, of keeping some prohibited object in his prison cell, his advocate has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that this year, on January 25, the court sentenced Bagirzade and 17 his supporters to long prison terms within the case on riots in Nardaran.

Talekh Bagirzade and his supporters were recognized as organizers of the riots in Nardaran, which broke out on November 26, 2015, after a special operation, and ended with the killing of seven people. Azerbaijani rights defenders have declared the figurants in the case to be political prisoners.

The advocate Djavad Djavadov doubts the truthfulness of the MoJ's new accusations. He recalled that a similar case was initiated in 2014, when Bagirzade was serving his term on charges of illegal drug dealing.

In November 2013, Bagirzade was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of possessing and selling drugs. However, he refused to plead guilty.

Under the new case, Bagirzade faces up to two years of additional imprisonment.

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

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent