22:34, 2 October 2019

Case of Azerbaijani activist's wife closed amid public outcry

The criminal case initiated against Leyla Ismailzade, the wife of the convicted leader of the "Muslim Unity" movement, Talekh Bagirzade, who was suspected of an attempt to bring a telephone to her imprisoned husband, has been closed. Leyla associates this fact with negative comments in social networks.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the above case was opened against Ismailzade after a mobile phone was found in the bag of her son, with whom she came to visit her husband in jail. Leyla believes that "the case was overblown with the aim to put pressure on Talekh."

On January 25, 2017, Talekh Bagirzade, the leader of the "Muslim Unity", and 17 his supporters were sentenced to prison terms from 10 to 20 years on charges of organizing riots after a law enforcers' operation in November 2015, which resulted in the death of seven people, including two policemen. The defendants complained of torture and refused to plead guilty. Azerbaijani human rights defenders announced the figurants of the "Nardaran case" to be political prisoners.

"The case triggered a great public resonance and caused outrage among social network users, because no one believed the official version that I had deliberately tried to bring a telephone to the jail," Ms Ismailzade has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 2, 2019 at 04:36 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent