On January 9, the Baku Court of Serious Crimes completed the trial of activist Rail Abbasov, accused of fraud.
In his last statement, Abbasov said that he was arrested on far-fetched and trumped-up charges for defending his friend, human rights defender Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, who was also unreasonably arrested. Abbasov cited numerous inconsistencies in his case as evidence of falsification of his case and asked the court to make a fair decision.
However, the court sentenced Abbasov to 6.5 years of imprisonment.
Earlier, the prosecutor requested that Abbasov be sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment.
*On September 20, 2023, the Nasimi Court of Baku arrested Abbasov for 4 months on charges under Article 178.3.2 (large-scale fraud) of the Criminal Code. Abbasov denies the accusation, considering his active participation in protecting the rights of activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, who was arrested back in December 2022, to be the true reason. Human rights activists recognized both as political prisoners.