On August 13th, Sabail District Court sentenced islamazeri.az online newspaper editor-in–chief Ramin Bayramov to 2 months pre-trial detention, reported the-editor-in-chief’s lawyer Elchin Namazov IRFS today. Judge Elnur Hasanov presided over the hearing.
Namazov believes that the decision constitutes a legal violation.
“Generally, such cases are investigated by the police, but Ramin Bayramov’s case was investigated by the Ministry of National Security (MNS). The judge and the prosecutor were surprised that an arms and drugs possession charge was under investigation by the MNS. Elchin Aliyev, a representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office admitted that the investigation should not be being carried out by the Ministry of National Security. He said that he would report it to his Office. We also presented our objection to the Judge, and he agreed that this is illegal,” said the lawyer. He added that the defendant side aims to have the case transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The defendant side will also appeal against the pre-trial sentence.
Religious follower Abgul Sleymanov, islamazeri.az online newspaper editor-in-chief Ramin Bayramov and Islamic Party activist Arif Ganiyev were arrested on August 11. The joint statement released by the Ministry of National Security and the General Prosecutor’s Office the following states that they are under suspicion of implementing hostile activities against Azerbaijan. The statements goes on to says that 1 “Baikal” pistol, a silencer for this pistol, 8 cartridges, 2 F-1 hand grenades, 2 grenade lighters and 13g opium poppy were found in a garage owned by Bayramov. In addition, 19g of opium poppy was found on Ganiyev’s person, and 1 Makarov gun in his car. The statement also claims that 23,7 g opium poppy was found on Suleymanov.
“Generally, such cases are investigated by the police, but Ramin Bayramov’s case was investigated by the Ministry of National Security (MNS). The judge and the prosecutor were surprised that an arms and drugs possession charge was under investigation by the MNS. Elchin Aliyev, a representative of the General Prosecutor’s Office admitted that the investigation should not be being carried out by the Ministry of National Security. He said that he would report it to his Office. We also presented our objection to the Judge, and he agreed that this is illegal,” said the lawyer. He added that the defendant side aims to have the case transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The defendant side will also appeal against the pre-trial sentence.
Religious follower Abgul Sleymanov, islamazeri.az online newspaper editor-in-chief Ramin Bayramov and Islamic Party activist Arif Ganiyev were arrested on August 11. The joint statement released by the Ministry of National Security and the General Prosecutor’s Office the following states that they are under suspicion of implementing hostile activities against Azerbaijan. The statements goes on to says that 1 “Baikal” pistol, a silencer for this pistol, 8 cartridges, 2 F-1 hand grenades, 2 grenade lighters and 13g opium poppy were found in a garage owned by Bayramov. In addition, 19g of opium poppy was found on Ganiyev’s person, and 1 Makarov gun in his car. The statement also claims that 23,7 g opium poppy was found on Suleymanov.