Baku Court of Appeal chaired by Judge Vugar Mammadov considered an appeal brought by Azadliq newspaper’s arrested distribution director Faig Amirli against Nasimi District Court’s decision of 12 October 2016 on the rejection of his request to replace the measure of pre-trial detention with house arrest in respect of him.
Amirli’s appeal was denied at a closed court hearing.
Background: Faig Amirli was arrested on 20 August 2016. Employees of the investigating authority searched his car and house, and allegedly found and seized Fetullah Gulen books from his car. According to his lawyer, wedding video cassettes were also seized during the search. Amirli is charged under Articles 283.1 (Actions aimed at the incitement of national, racial, social or religious hatred and enmity, humiliation of national dignity, as well as actions aimed at restricting the rights of citizens or establishment of the superiority of citizens on grounds of their nationality, race, social status or religion, if these acts are committed publicly or through the media) and 168.1 (Creating, managing or being part of a group, which – under the pretext of disseminating religious faiths and performing religious rites – carries out an activity that disrupts public order or harms the health of citizens or violates the rights of citizens irrespective of its form of infringement, as well as distracts citizens from performance of their duties established by law) of the Criminal Code.