Court in Baku upholds verdict to oppositional party leader

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has upheld the verdict in a libel case handed down earlier to Ali Aliev, the leader of the oppositional "Citizens and Development" Party, and left him in custody. His defence intends to appeal to the Azerbaijani Supreme Court (SC) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that two border guards – Colonel Emil Djafarov and Captain Ramin Adilov – had filed a libel lawsuit against Ali Aliev. On January 13, the court sentenced Aliev to five months in prison on Djafarov's complaint. Azerbaijani politicians and human rights defenders, as well as international structures, have treated the case as a "political order." On April 15, a court in Baku sentenced Aliev to five months in prison on Adilov's complaint. The defence said it would appeal against the sentence.

On April 29, the BCA considered Ali Aliev's complaint against the verdict handed down by the court in the slander case initiated under Ramin Adilov's lawsuit, Djavad Djavadov, Aliev's advocate, has explained.

According to the advocate, the defence had asked the court to dismiss the criminal case on acquittal grounds. "We pointed out that Ali Aliev's statements fit within the framework of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)," Mr Djavadov has stated.

The BCA has denied the defence' arguments and upheld the verdict, Agil Laidj, another advocate, has stressed. "Of course, we disagree with the BCA'a decision and will challenge it at the Azeri SC by filing a cassation appeal. In the future, the case will be brought to the ECtHR," Mr Laidj has promised.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 30, 2022 at 11:06 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.