Azerbaijani blogger Ramazanov left in custody

The Baku Court of Appeal dismissed a complaint against the arrest of blogger Rashad Ramazanov. The defendant pleaded not guilty and stated that law enforcers tortured him to force him to confess to a crime he never committed.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that Rashad Ramazanov (also known as Rashad Agaaddin) was detained on May 20. On the other day, the Sabunchi District Court of Baku sent him under arrest for four months. The blogger was charged under Article 234.4.3 (large-scale drug trafficking) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has considered a complaint against the Rashad Ramazanov’s arrest. The defendant pleaded not guilty, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent was told by advocate Elchin Sadygov.

“According to the materials of the criminal case, Rashad Ramazanov was allegedly detained based on operational information, and 10 grams of heroin were confiscated from him. According to [law enforcers], Ramazanov testified that he found a parcel with drugs on the street. Rashad Ramazanov himself called the above claim a lie. In court, he stated that he confessed under torture. Ramazanov said that the criminal case against him was fabricated in connection with his criticism of the Azerbaijan’s authorities on social media,” the advocate reported.

In particular, according to the advocate, Rashad Ramazanov said that violence was used against him during the detention and in a police station. “Indeed, there were signs of severe torture on both legs of Rashad Ramazanov. He got open bleeding wounds and closed wounds – bruises," states Elchin Sadygov.

According to the advocate, the judge ignored the blogger’s complaint about torture.

“We filed a motion to change the pre-trial restriction measure to house arrest, taking into account the fact that there is no primary reliable evidence against Ramazanov and that the entire charge is based on the testimony of [the law enforcers] themselves. However, the court did not grant either the motion or the complaint itself,” the advocate said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 27, 2022 at 12:32 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.