A new investigation has been launched against the leader of the Citizens and Development Party (CDP) Ali Aliyev, who is being kept in a pre-trial detention centerin the status of a witness, but his associates fear that this is a provocation to extend the period of arrest, deputy head of the CDP Dilgusha Gulumjan.
A complaint against Aliyev was filed by his cellmate, accusing Aliyev of beating him. This became known only yesterday, because Aliyev was not allowed to call home for 10 days and they did not let a meeting with lawyer.
“On August 23, a provocation was staged against Ali Aliyev in the Baku pre-trial detention center N-1 in Kurdakhani. On this day, the prisoner, who is constantly kept together with Aliyev, was taken out of the cell for a while. When he returned, he began to scream and beat himself. He then complained that Ali Aliyev had attacked him. An investigation into the fact has begun in the Sabunchu district police department,” Gulumjan told Turan.
Aliyev’s lawyer, Togrul Babayev, confirmed that an investigation had been launched against Aliyev in the Sabunchu district police department in connection with a cellmate’s complaint. The lawyer refrained from detailed comments, saying that Aliyev is in the status of a witness.
According to him, Ali Aliyev fears for his life in the Kurdakhan pre-trial detention center and appealed to the first vice-president of the country, the prosecutor general, the head of the State Security Service, the minister of justice, with a request to change his place of detention.
The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs had no information about the investigation against Aliyev in the Sabunchu district police department. The Penitentiary Service could not be reached for comment.
*Ali Aliyev was sentenced on January 13 of this year to 5 months in prison on charges of libel (Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code) based on a complaint from an officer of the State Border Service (SBS) Emil Jafarov.
On April 15, the court extended the sentence by another month, satisfying the complaint against Aliyev by another officer of the State Border Service, Ramin Adilov.
The reason for the lawsuits was the statement by Ali Aliyev in the press that the said officers could not survive after the crash of the MI-17 State Border Service helicopter on November 30, 2021, and that the helicopter could have been shot down by the Russian side. In the crash of the State Border Service helicopter in November last year, 14 officers of this department were killed, and two survived. They also filed lawsuits.
Ali Aliyev rejected both verdicts, calling his arrest “a political order from the country’s leadership.”
On June 23, the Yasamal court extended Aliyev’s sentence to 1 year in prison, satisfying the complaint of Ramiz Geyushev, a former functionary of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. The latter sued Ali Aliyev after he, in a video interview with “Boomerang TV” in September 2021, called him a “hare”, “fraer” and “masturbator”.
The reason for this was the footage that appeared on the Internet in September 2021, in which Geyushev is watching a porn video. The journalist who distributed these footage was arrested, and Geyushev was expelled from the party.
**Human rights activists recognized Aliyev as a political prisoner.