On October 7th, Baku Appeals Court held a preliminary hearing on the appeal of New Thought Youth Movement Chairman Ruslan Bashirli.
The present appeal follows on the Justice Ministry Penitentiary Service’s rejection of Bashirli’s August 22nd appeal for early release from prison #1.
Ruslan Bashirli`s lawyer, Tahir Khanaliyev, told the Mediaforum news website that the Nizami District Court’s decision was issued without legal grounds. “The decision was based on the repreach measures issued against Bashirli in 2007. However, the law says that if the repreach ruling is not implemented in the same year, it loses its legal force. There has been no repreach ruling concerning Bashirli since 2007. Therefore, we appealed against the decision,” he said.
According to the lawyer, the appeal will be heard on 12 October.
BACKGROUND
Yeni Fikir Youth Movement Chairman Ruslan Bashirli was arrested on the eve of the May 18, 2005 parliamentary election for his activity during an Azadlig “freedom” election coalition meeting involving the Musavat, APFP, and ADP parties. He was sentenced to 7 years in jail by the Grave Crimes Court on 12 July, 2006.