09:59, 19 September 2019

Baku court commutes Ragimov's punishment

Ikram Ragimov, a journalist. Screenshot of meydan.tv

A court in Baku has reduced the prison term of Ikram Ragimov, the editor-in-chief of the "Realliq.info" website, from 5.5 years to 3 years in prison. The defence intends to appeal against the ruling.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 12, a court in Baku found Ragimov guilty of extortion and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison. On August 7, he went on a hunger strike, demanding an objective review of his appeal. On September 5, Ragimov stopped his protest hunger strike.

According to Galib Gasanov, a Ragimov's cousin, Elchin Sadygov, an advocate, asked the court to acquit Ragimov "for the absence of reliable proofs of his guilt."

"Ikram said in his last plea that he had been arrested on trumped-up charges and that he would resume his hunger strike if the court failed to release him," Mr Gasanov has stated.

Meanwhile, he believes that Ragimov has partially achieved the goal by his hunger strike.

"After the start of his hunger strike, employees of Embassies of the USA and Germany began visiting the trial. They saw that Ikram was tried based on far-fetched accusations," Galib Gasanov has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 18, 2019 at 08:53 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent