Law enforcers unlikely to be punished for insulting God, Azerbaijani lawyers say

When commenting on the demand of Azerbaijani activist Talekh Bagirzade to hold law enforcers accountable for offensive remarks insulting God, lawyers have said it is unlikely to result in a serious punishment for law enforcers.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on June 3, Talekh Bagirzade, the convicted leader of the “Muslim Unity” movement, went on a hunger strike, demanding to punish the law enforcers, who, according to supporters of the “Muslim Unity” movement, were blaspheming while torturing believers. On June 6, Abbas Guseinov and Djabbar Djabbarov, members of the “Muslim Unity” movement, and journalist Polad Aslanov, imprisoned in Azerbaijan, began a hunger strike in solidarity with Talekh Bagirzade.

Legal expert Yalchin Imanov, a former member of the Azerbaijani Bar Association, believes that in the case of the reasons for the hunger strike of Talekh Bagirzade and other believers, only complaints about torture by the law enforcers can be the subject of a criminal investigation.

“There are two specific articles in the Criminal Code under which law enforcers can be held accountable for the use of physical violence,” Yalchin Imanov said.

However, according to him, there is no corpus delicti in insulting God and the law enforcers can only be brought to disciplinary responsibility.

The expert notes that there have been earlier allegations of insulting the feelings of believers. “For example, my clients complained about that in the Nardaran case. By the way, the main defendant in the Nardaran case is Talekh Bagirzade. It is difficult and almost impossible for defence to prove such facts concerning insults to the feelings of believers, if the state itself does not want that,” the expert said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 8, 2022 at 02:00 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.