Court mitigates sentence for Azerbaijani journalist Elchin Ismayilli

The Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan has removed from journalist Elchin Ismayilli the charges of taking a bribe and abuse of office and mitigated his imprisonment term by two years.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 18, Elchin Ismayilli, a journalist and a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was sentenced to 9 years of imprisonment on the charges of extortion, bribe taking, and abuse of office.

Today, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has considered the cassation appeal against the sentence of Elchin Ismayilli, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by advocate Elchin Sadygov.

The Court has removed from the journalist the charges under the articles on bribery and abuse of office and refused to recognize Elchin Ismayilli not guilty of extortion by threats, reports the advocate. "Despite the removal of the charges under two articles, the Supreme Court has mitigated the term of punishment by two years only, from nine to seven years of imprisonment. We, the defence, believe that upholding the verdict in force is unreasonable and unlawful," Elchin Sadygov commented on the decision pronounced by the Supreme Court.

According to the advocate, the defence will challenge the lawfulness of the sentence at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 20, 2018 at 06:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.