Azerbaijani SC refuses CER for Fuad Akhmedli

The Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan dismissed the cassation appeal filed by Fuad Akhmedli, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), about a refusal in the conditional early relief (CER) for him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Fuad Akhmedli, the leader of the regional branch of the PFPA's youth committee, was accused of distributing personal data of subscribers of a mobile communication company for which he worked. In June 2017, Fuad Akhmedli was sentenced to four years of imprisonment under articles "violation of the law on operational investigative activities" and "abuse of office."

Today, the cassation appeal has been considered by the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan. Fuad Akhmedli himself refused to participate in the trial, his advocate Zibeida Sadygova told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"At the beginning of the court hearing, the judge reported that, 'according to the documents submitted from the penal colony, Fuad Akhmedli failed to comply with the penal colony regime's rules,' and therefore, his sentence should not be mitigated. In turn, we have noted that Fuad Akhmedli is an intelligent young man who is being persecuted for political reasons. The 'Amnesty International' (AI) recognized him as a 'prisoner of conscience,' and local human rights defenders recognized him as a political prisoner," said Zibeida Sadygova.

"Unfortunately, the Supreme Court dismissed the cassation appeal," the advocate said.

Zafar Akhmedov, the father of the activist and the coordinator of the Centre for Political Prisoners' Families, called the court's decision politically motivated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 3, 2020 at 02:30 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.