On November 21st a court hearing was held in Nasimi district court in the case of arrested lawyer Qurban Mammadov, who is charged with infringement of traffic or vehicle operation rules (article 263.1 of Criminal Code) and offering payoff to victim for false testimony (article 299.1 of Criminal Code).
Mammadov filed a motion for dismissal of payoff charges, which was not granted.
When questioned by defense lawyers, forensic medical expert Alish Mevliyev said in his opinion he did not mean that the car ran over the victim’s foot, he meant that it just touched.
According to Mammadov’s lawyer Khalid Bagirov, these words of the expert have dispelled the charges, as they are based on allegations that Mammadov had run over victim Parviz Abbasov’s foot with his vehicle.
To this end, Mammadov filed motions for a new forensic examination, re-examination of the accident scene and face-to-face confrontation of the investigator, the witnesses and the victims. All of the three motions were rejected. The next hearing, in which the closing speeches will be made, will be held on November 28.
Gurban Mammadov was arrested on September, 2012 in connection with a car accident. In Mammadov’s view however, his arrest is politically motivated and is a revenge for his opposition activism and sharp criticisms of the authorities.