In Azerbaijan, man accused of killing child claims torture

Ilkin Suleimanov, accused of kidnapping and killing a ten-year-old girl from a village of the Tovuz District in Azerbaijan, said that he had confessed to the crime under torture. His advocate also claimed procedural violations. A father of the killed girl says he knows the family of the accused man very well and they never had any conflicts.

According to investigators, the girl disappeared on November 21, 2019. Her charred body was found on January 6. 47-year-old Ilkin Suleimanov was the first person who reported the discovery of the dead body. The story of the child's murder provoked a wide resonance in Azerbaijan.

According to the advocate, there are signs of violence on the Ilkin Suleimanov's body. A sister of the arrested man also claimed that her brother's rights had been violated after his detention.

"They didn't let an advocate to visit him, and we were also not allowed to see him. We were shocked by the fact that my brother had been arrested on a charge of such a grave crime. We don't believe in that. They presented me a confession allegedly written by my brother, but it was not his handwriting," the woman said.

The child's father says that he knows the family of Ilkin Suleimanov and this is a "respected family." He adds that he wants an objective investigation into the murder of his daughter, the Azerbaijani BBC Service reports.

Ilkin Suleimanov may face life imprisonment.