Azerbaijani activists treat reasons for criminal prosecution as political

The conditional prison terms awarded to 12 members of the last group that took part in the rally in support of the army, held in July 2020 in Baku, have to do with the systematic persecution of the opposition, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that at night on July 15, 2020, an unsanctioned march was held in Baku in support of the Azerbaijani Army, which ended in clashes with the police. A total of 37 people, including 16 PFPA members, were prosecuted as defendants under several criminal articles. On June 14 and 21, two groups of 12 oppositionists each received conditional prison terms.

On June 22, Ulviya Sadygova, Judge of the Sabail District Court of Baku, announced the verdict to the third group of defendants. All the 12 of them were sentenced to the same punishment – two years and 10 months of conditional imprisonment with a probationary period of 2.5 years, Tezekhan Miralamli, a member of the NGO "Defence Line", told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"None of the defendants has pleaded guilty," Mr Miralamli has added.

Ilkham Gusein, a member of the PFPA Presidium, has noted that "from the very beginning, the manifestation in support of the army was used to repress the party."

"Authorities tried to treat this expression of people's unrests as a pre-planned action with the aim of 'seizing power.' More than fifty our activists were detained. 16 people were brought to trial and received conditional sentences, which restricts our activists' rights and is a factor of pressure," Mr Gusein has noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2021 at 10:56 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.