On January 16, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced Jafar Mirzoyev, an activist of the Popular Front Party, accused of drug trafficking.
Earlier, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to 7.5 years in prison. In the final speech, the lawyer Neymat Karimli asked to acquit the activist, saying that he was arrested without grounds and Mirzoev’s guilt was not proven at the trial.
Mirzoyev himself also denied the accusation, calling it politically motivated.
* Jafar Mirzoyev is one of five activists arrested after being expelled from Germany last autumn. They were all charged with drug trafficking. Two more activists were arrested on other charges. Human rights activists recognized all as political prisoners.
The real reason for these arrests was the participation of political emigrants in protests in Europe demanding the release of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Mirzoyev was expelled from Germany on November 25, 2021 and arrested in Baku on January 27. He was charged under the Article 234.4.3 (large-scale drug trafficking) of the Criminal Code.