The Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the head of the Civil Rights Institute Bashir Suleymanli against his arrest. The activist rejected the charges of economic crimes and linked the criminal case to his human rights activities.
Criminal cases have been opened against the head of the Human Rights Institute Bashir Suleymanli and the head of the Alliance for Election Observation Mammad Mammadzade. Both have been arrested. Suleymanli was detained on March 14 and charged with forgery, money laundering or other property obtained by criminal means, and abuse of office.
The Baku Court of Appeal heard Suleymanli’s appeal against his arrest on March 19, one of the activist’s associates said.
“The defense pointed out that there are no grounds for criminal prosecution of Bashir Suleymanli, much less for his detention. There is no evidence against him, the accusation is based on the investigator’s subjective assumptions. Bashir himself said that he does not accept the charges. He stated that the criminal case is related to his legal and human rights activities,” said the activist, who did not want to be named.
An employee of the Baku Court of Appeal confirmed the information about the rejection of the complaint against Suleymanli’s arrest.
The consideration of the appeal of another defendant in this case, the head of the Election Observation Alliance Mammad Mammadzade, is scheduled for March 20, said lawyer Bahruz Bayramov.
According to him, the defense will ask the court to cancel the decision on Mammadzade’s pretrial detention or change the measure of restraint to house arrest.