Court releases four figurants of the "Ganja case"

Four out of eight defendants in the case of Ganja riots have received real prison terms; four others were released: two were sentenced conditionally; and two had their term in custody found to be a sufficient punishment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 9, the court finished considering the complaint of 11 figurants in the case of the events in Ganja in July 2018. Four defendants were released; the sentences of the other seven were reduced. On August 15, the court commuted sentences to another group of defendants, which outraged the convicts and their relatives. On August 26, the court commuted sentences of eight convicts; and on August 30, it released one and reduced the terms of five others. On September 19, the court ruled on a group of seven defendants, by sentencing them to imprisonment for the term ranging from 2 to 20 years. One of them, Eshgin Guliev, died in the prison hospital on September 29. Human rights defenders have linked his death with torture.

Arzu Abdulla, a member of the Public Committee for the Protection of Rights of "Ganja Case" Figurants, has reported that the court had sentenced Bakram Aliev to 15 years in prison; Gabib Gurbanov – to eight years; and Mirza Guseinov and Asif Djavadov – to five years. The court appointed for Vugar Guseinov and Emil Mamedov the imprisonment for 1 year, 2 months and 2 days. Since they had already served this term, the court released them in the courtroom.

Shakhin Verdiev has noted that he had seriously damaged his health during detention.

Ogtai Gyulyalyev, the head of the Committee against Repression and Torture, said that those sentenced to real terms will be added to the list of political prisoners, as they were "persecuted on trumped-up charges with the aim to present the events in Ganja as the actions of religious radicals."