Muslim Union Movement (MUM) chairman Taleh Bagirzade and member Abbas Huseynov, who arrested in 2015 as part of the Nardaran case, have been put in solitary confinement, their relatives reported on December 17.
The two Nardaran prisoners have reportedly been moved to the punishment cell in Baku Detention Centre No.1 located in Kurdakhani settlement on 14 December.
According to their relatives, the term of Bagirzade’s and Huseynov’s punishment is 5 days. They believe that the two have been punished due to what happened during the 14 December hearing in Baku Grave Crimes Court.
At the 14 December hearing, Taleh Bagirzade said one of the persons in the courtroom, who introduced himself as a journalist, was in fact a police officer and had come to court on a special assignment. At the end of the hearing, the said person left the courtroom through the door meant for judges. After the incident, presiding judge Alovsat Abbasov ordered Taleh Bagirzade to be removed from the courtroom. Abbas Huseynov and the other defendants refused to come to the courtroom in protest at this decision.
Recall that, Taleh Bagirzade and Abbas Huseynov had already been placed in the punishment cell before. Both of them have strongly criticised the government and the president in their courtroom speeches.
Earlier, another Nardaran prisoner, Abbas Huseynov, has been put in solitary confinement, his barrister Fariz Namazli said on 9 December.
According to the barrister, his client will remain solitary confinement, unit of Baku Detention Centre, where he is currently held, for 5 days, but the reason for the punishment is unknown.
“The detention centre leadership once again illegally refuses to explain why they put defendants in solitary confinement,. They do not give us a copy of the decision on the disciplinary sanction,” the lawyer said.
Abbas Huseynov was arrested during an operation carried out by law enforcement agencies in Nardaran village of Baku in November 2015. He is charged, along with Muslin Union Movement chairman Taleh Bagirzade and other members of the organisation, with homicide, plotting terrorist attacks, terrorism, illegal possession of firearms, violent seizure or retention of power, organisation of armed units or groups not provided for by law, making open appeals against the state, etc.