On June 12th, Mehman Huseynov was summoned to Sabail District Police Office, where he was questioned for 3 hours and then detained as a suspect. On June 13th he was charged with Article 221.2.2 (hooliganism) and taken to the Sabail District Court. This act is punishable by corrective work for a term of up to two years, or up to five years in prison. The court did not sentence him to pre-trial detention, but required him to provide a written commitment not to leave the city without court permission or without notifying the prosecuting authority.
Huseynov and his lawyer state that the police officer who filed the case against Mehman was himself the aggressor. He attacked and insulted Mehman, preventing him from carrying out his professional work as a photo-journalist. He damaged the cameras belonging to Huseynov and IRFS colleague Mirrahim Hasanov.
IRFS and a number of international organizations believe that the criminal charges against Mehman are politically motivated. This step is deemed an act of revenge against civil society after the Eurovision song contest.