Court refuses to release Azerbaijani activist

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has dismissed the complaint against the arrest of the activist Rafael Guseinzade after his solo picket in support of political prisoners.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the police detained Rafael Guseinzade during his picket in central Baku on January 25 this year. He was arrested for 30 days for disobeying a policeman's legitimate demands.

The consideration of the complaint against Guseinzade's arrest was held today at the BCA, the advocate Djavad Djavadov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "Rafael Guseinzade said at the session that he had been slandered because he did not disobey the police," the advocate has explained, noting that he considered his client's arrest unjustified. "The video disseminated over the Internet shows Rafael Guseinzade is standing in front of the Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry, holding a poster. A few minutes later, policemen took the poster away from him, took him away and put him into a car. It is seen that he rendered absolutely no physical resistance or disobedience," said the advocate.

"Unfortunately, the BCA has ignored the defence's arguments and dismissed the complaint against the arrest," Mr Djavadov has stated.

A complaint will be sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), said Fizuli Guseinov, Rafael's father and an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA).

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 1, 2019 at 03:10 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.