Imanly left in custody under COVID-19 spread case

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has refused to transfer Mukhammed Imanly, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), under house arrest. The oppositionist was groundlessly accused of spreading coronavirus, his advocate insists.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Imanly, a PFPA member, detained on July 16, 2020, was prosecuted under Article 139-1.1 of the Azerbaijan Criminal Code (a violation of the anti-epidemic and quarantine regime, which caused the spread of the disease or created a threat thereof). On December 1, 2020, the court sentenced Imanly to one year of freedom deprivation.

A preliminary session on the oppositionist's complaint against the verdict was held on February 3 at the BCA. His defence asked to cancel the sentence and stop the criminal case, Asabali Mustafaev, an advocate has stated.

"We've brought to the attention of the court that the charge against Imanly was false, because he was not a coronavirus carrier, and, moreover, did not spread it. There is no reliable proof in the case file that Imanly went out on the street while being infected, as the case states," said the advocate.

He also asked the court to consider the complaint with holding a partial judicial investigation – to investigate the proofs and summon the witnesses. "Unfortunately, the court rejected all our motions and scheduled the hearing on the merits for February 16," said the advocate.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 3, 2021 at 08:46 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.