Today, the Baku Appeals Court heard the Azerbaijani Islamic Party Head Movsum Samadov’s appeal against the Nasimi District Court's 20 January judgment, accoridng to Samadov’s lawyer Anar Gasimov. The appeal was not fulfilled.

The court checkpoint employees told IRFS that the hearing was a closed one and journalists were not allowed in.

BACKGROUND

Movsum Samadov, his driver Mirhuseyn Kazimov, party department head Vagif Abdulayev and party activist Elchin Hasanov were arrested on January 7th. Shahin Hasanli, the akhund at “Mashadi Dadash” mosque was detained on January 9th, but he was later released. On January 10th, residents Nuraddin Darafarin and Babak Hasanov, theologian Zulfugar Mikayilzade, Head of National and Moral Values Public Union Mehdi Mammadov, Deputy Head of Islamic Party Elchin Manafov, Islamic Party Spokesman Akif Heydarli and others were detained. About 20 religious followers have been detained in Ganja, a source told IRFS on the condition of anonymity.

The Azerbaijan Islamic Party Chairman criticized the hijab ban in the Party assembly on January 2nd, describing it as a moral blow to Azerbaijani society. The video of the meeting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DQ7Sb7ZQvI&feature=player_embedded) was broadcasted on social networking sites. As a result of this, the party chairman and his supporters risk arrest.

The Azerbaijan Islamic Party was established in 1991 in Nardaran village, Baku. The party was registered with the Ministry of Justice in 1992. However, the party chairman and deputy chairman were charged with spying for Iran and arrested. The party’s official registration was annulled by the Supreme Court.

In the 2007 congress of the Party, Movsum Samadov, head of AIP Guba Regional Committee was elected as the AIP chairman. Movsum Samadov was born in Guba in 1965. He is a graduate of Azerbaijan Medical University. Samadov worked as a doctor In Russia and Dagestan. In 1996, he went to Iran and graduated from Superior Islamic University in Kum, Iran.