A Baku court has extended the pretrial detention of human rights activist Rufat Safarov for another month. The defense considers the decision unfounded and intends to appeal it.
Safarov is accused of embezzling money from Natig Imamguliyev, who transferred funds for the purchase of a land plot and did not receive them back when the deal fell through. Safarov denied the charges and claimed that the criminal case was fabricated. On December 6, he planned to fly to the United States to receive a human rights award at a ceremony dedicated to International Human Rights Day. On December 10, Safarov was awarded the US State Department award in absentia.
The Binagadi District Court of Baku today extended the pretrial detention of Rufat Safarov for another month, until June 3, his lawyer Bahruz Bayramov told a correspondent.
“This is already the third court decision to keep Rufat Safarov in custody. The total term of his pre-trial detention will already be six months. There are no reasonable explanations for this, the motion to extend the arrest was motivated only by general words that “the investigation is ongoing.” If the investigation needs more time, then it can work without keeping Safarov in custody. But the court did not satisfy our counter-motion to transfer Safarov to house arrest,” the lawyer said, noting that the defense will appeal the court’s decision.