Court obliges Prosecutor’s Office to investigate responsibility of doctors on complaint of Gyulyalyev's relatives

A court in Baku has concluded that the Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan did not conduct a sufficient investigation, refusing to institute a case against the doctors who treated human rights defender Ogtai Gyulyalyev.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that in January 2021, the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan launched a re-investigation into the treatment methods of Ogtai Gyulyalyev, who was in a coma for more than a year. In December, the Prosecutor’s Office did not find the corpus delicti in the actions of the doctors and refused to institute a criminal case against them.

On April 14, the Nasimi District Court considered the complaint filed by the Ogtai Gyulyalyev’s family and cancelled the decision of the Prosecutor’s Office, which refused to institute a case against the doctors. “The court found that the Prosecutor’s Office did not conduct a sufficient investigation by making the above decision,” advocate Shakhla Gumbatova told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

Firuza Gyulyalyeva, a spouse of Ogtai Gyulyalyev, said the family filed a complaint against the doctors of the Baku City Medical Clinical Centre and the Baku City Hospital.

“If the clinic hadn’t delayed the surgery, Ogtai would not have fallen into a coma, from which he still hasn’t recovered. When, after the accident, Ogtai was brought to the city clinical centre, his condition was better. He was conscious, and his speech was normal. However, the clinic failed to make the second CT scan and MRI and did not determine a diagnosis. Several hours later, Ogtai was transferred to the private Baku City Hospital. Despite the loss of consciousness, the surgery was delayed for 13 hours and was performed only at noon the other day,” Firuza Gyulyalyeva told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 15, 2022 at 11:56 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.