Defence claims absence of proofs in Djafar Mirzoev's case

The charges against Djafar Mirzoev, an activist, detained in Azerbaijan within a drug case after his return from Germany on readmission, is based only on the words of the policemen who had detained him, Nemat Kerimli, an advocate, asserts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Djafar Mirzoev was detained on January 27, 2022, by persons in civilian clothes in the settlement of Ramana (a suburb of Baku), while he was in a store. The next day, the Sabunchu District Court arrested Mirzoev for four months. In June, human rights activists announced Mirzoev to be a political prisoner.

On August 12, a session on Mirzoev's case was held at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes.

Nemat Kerimli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that no reliable proofs of Djafar Mirzoev's guilt were presented in court. "The whole accusation is based on the words of the policemen who detained him," Mr Kerimli said.

Zafar Akhmedov, a member of the human rights NGO "Defence Line", has noted that Djafar's criminal prosecution is conducted under "already well-known scheme" for former political emigrants arrested after being extradited from Germany. "Since last autumn (of 2021), after being deported from Germany Mutallim Orudjev, Malik Rzaev, Pyunkhan Kerimli and Djafar Mirzoev have been arrested on charges of drug dealing. In Germany, all of them took part in political actions intended to draw attention to repressions in Azerbaijan. Now they themselves have become victims of politically motivated criminal prosecution," the human rights defender told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 13, 2022 at 01:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.