09:28, 30 October 2025

A Baku court has refused to halt the prosecution of a defendant in a large-scale case against an NGO.

A Baku court has refused to dismiss criminal proceedings against Zamin Zyaki, who was arrested in connection with a case against members of non-governmental organizations. The defense stated that there was no evidence of the activist's guilt.

As reported by Caucasian Knot, on April 9, Asef Akhmedov, head of the Ganja Regional Community Center, and Zamin Zyaki, an expert on social issues, were taken to the Investigative Department of the Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan, where they were charged with economic crimes. They were arrested as part of a renewed case against several Azerbaijani and foreign NGOs. The activists are charged with "forgery," "abuse of power," and "money laundering." Investigators are investigating their connections to Western donors, including USAID.

On October 9, a Baku court rejected the defense's motion to drop the criminal prosecution of Bashir Suleymanli, head of the Human Rights Institute, who is also involved in the same case against "a number of local and foreign NGOs." On March 14, Mammad Mammadzade, head of the Election Observation Alliance, was arrested. Subhan Hasanli, head of the Center for Social Rights, was placed on the wanted list on similar charges, and Hafiz Hasanov, head of the Law and Development organization, was placed under house arrest. A little later, four more activists were charged in the case: Akhmed Mammadzade was remanded in custody, Aytaj Aghazade was arrested in absentia, and Galib Bayramov and Nargiz Mukhtarova were placed under police surveillance. The number of defendants in the case reached 10.

On October 29, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes held a preparatory hearing for the case of activist Zamin Zyaki, who was arrested in connection with a case "against a number of local NGOs."

A lawyer, Gunay Ismayilova, a colleague of the activist who was present at the court hearing, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she had petitioned for the termination of the criminal case on acquittal grounds due to the lack of credible evidence of Zyaki's guilt. "The lawyer pointed out that Zyaki, who participated in civil society projects as a social worker, is accused of money laundering and other offenses. However, there is no evidence or proof against him,” said a colleague of the activist.

Furthermore, the defense attorney petitioned to place Zyaka under house arrest until the end of the trial. Another motion by the defense was related to allowing Zyaka to sit next to the lawyer. The judge, having granted only the last motion, accepted the case for proceedings and scheduled a hearing on the merits.

Lawyer Ismayilova, in a conversation with a “Caucasian Knot” correspondent, confirmed the lack of reliable evidence of Zyaka’s guilt. “He is accused of laundering 57 thousand manats (about 33.5 thousand US dollars). These funds were provided in the form of a grant. Since when have grants become property obtained by criminal means? "The use of a grant unregistered by a government agency can, under the law, be classified at most as an administrative offense, but not as a criminal offense," the lawyer noted.

On February 6, the Azerbaijani government terminated the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the country.

In the summer of 2014, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office announced the initiation of criminal cases against a number of local NGOs, branches, and representative offices of foreign NGOs for abuse of office and official forgery. In early August 2014, at the request of the Prosecutor General's Office, the bank accounts of six local and one international non-profit organization were frozen. According to activists, the accounts of more than 20 local and foreign NGOs have been frozen.

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/416782