On May 14, Salyan district court ordered Emil Mammadov, head of the “Democracy Assistance” Public Union, to serve 3 months pre trial detention, his brother Igrar Mammadov told the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety today.
According to him, Emil is charged under Article 182.2.2 (extortion) of the Criminal Code. But human rights defender denies the charges, considering them politically motivated.
Emil Mammadov refused services of a state-appointed attorney. He has not been allowed to meet his family since he was arrested on May 13, at 5 pm.
Note that another activist of the organization, Tofig Gasimov was put in pretrial detention for 2 months on April 17, 2014. He gave incriminatory statement against Mammadov under pressure, saying that under instruction of Mammadov he extorted money from the chiefs of local bodies threatening to spread disgraceful materials on the internet. Mammadov himself claimed that the criminal case against him was fabricated by the governor of Salyan district for exposing corruption facts in the region not long ago.