BCA leaves oppositional politician Yagublu in custody

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has dismissed the complaint lodged by the defence of the Azerbaijani politician Tofig Yagublu, leaving him under arrest for two months.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Tofig Yagublu, a member of the "Musavat" Party and the coordination centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) was detained on March 22, 2020. His daughter said that when he was in his parked car, another car drove into him; and people therein began behaving aggressively. After that, Yagublu was detained and taken to the police. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) claimed that he had committed a road accident and attacked a married couple; therefore, he was detained. The activist treated himself as a victim of provocation.

The consideration of the complaint against the extension of Yagublu's arrest took place on June 24 at the BCA. According to Agil Laidzhev, a Yagublu's advocate, the defence insisted that "there was no reason to extend the arrest."

"However, the prosecutor spoke against Yagublu's liberation, referring to the fact that he had been convicted earlier and now can allegedly hide from the trial. But this argument is untenable. As to the earlier conviction, Tofig Yagublu was actually acquitted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which recognized the illegality of his arrest," said the advocate.

The BCA has dismissed the complaint. "We have exhausted the domestic mechanisms for appealing against Tofig Yagublu's custody; and now we intend to appeal to the ECtHR," Agil Laidzhev has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 24, 2020 at 06:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.