Defence treats oppositionist's detention in Baku as unjustified

Emin Babaev, a member of the "Republican Alternative" (ReAl) Party, was detained on charges of disobeying the police and was kept in custody for more than 24 hours, although the judge has postponed the trial and released him, said Natig Djafarli, the Secretary of the Party.

Emin Babaev was detained on May 4 around 11:00 a.m. local time, Mr Djafarli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on May 5.

"The protocol states that Emin allegedly 'in the street, talking to someone on the phone, said obscene words and disobeyed the police,' when he was called to order. Emin refuted the charges and said that he had been questioned by the police more about his activities in social networks and about the party. The judge postponed the sentencing until May 6 and ruled that Emin was free. But under the pretext of giving a subscription to appear in court on May 6, he was taken to the Sabail police station and ... is kept there," Mr Djafarli said on May 5.

Shakhla Gumbatova, a Babaev's advocate, believes it is illegal to keep the activist in custody without a court order for more than 24 hours.

"I was told today that Babaev will remain at the police station until the court session. But what if a trial is postponed again? This is a violation of the law. Moreover, this is a violation of the judge's ruling that Babaev is free until the end of the proceedings," Ms Gumbatova has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 6, 2019 at 01:18 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.