Today, the Baku Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Hasan Ahmadov, considered Elchin Mamed’s appeal to mitigate punishment in connection with serving 1/3 of the prison sentence.
During the trial, Mammad said that the description presented to the court from jail N 16 “does not reflect reality and was drawn up on the basis of an order.”
In particular, it states that Mammad “does not show sincerity in observing the relevant norms of behavior, ethical rules, communicating with staff and other convicts.” Mammad petitioned for the creation of an independent monitoring group in order to view the recordings from CCTV cameras in the colony, which would reveal the true picture of his behavior and the court could make a decision based on its own conclusions.
At the same time, Mammad referred to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of October 8, 2010, according to which, when considering such appeals, the courts should not be content with arguments of subjective inferences, not be based on general and formulaic phrases, but use all legal means for a full, comprehensive and objective consideration of appeals.
However, as noted in the press release, the court rejected the petition and the complaint itself and upheld the decision of the Surakhani court, which denied Mamed a mitigation of punishment and, in particular, parole.
Mammad believes that the appellate court fulfilled the will of those who ordered his arrest, who now want to keep him in prison for as long as possible.
On October 17, 2020, the Sumgayit City Court sentenced the head of the Legal Education of Sumgayit Youth NGO and the editor of the Yukselish Namine website Elchin Mamed to 4 years in prison, having found him guilty of “theft” and “illegal storage of ammunition and weapons” …
The human rights defender was arrested in March 2020. A woman to whom he provided legal assistance complained about him. The previously mentioned woman also complained about the editor of the website criminal.az Anar Mammadov.
Mammad connects the criminal case with his human rights activities. International organizations Amnesty International, PEN, FİACAT and others condemned the arrest of Mamed. Local human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner.