The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan on May 2 will consider the appeal of the Party of People’s Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA) activist Punkhan Kerimli, arrested after being deported from Germany. The activist’s father Vahid Kerimli told Turan news agency.
The father believes that the Supreme Court should acquit his son because the charge is trumped up.
“The charges against my son have not been proved in the courts,” he said.
It is to remind that Pyunhan Kerimli immigrated to Germany in October 2018 due to persecution in Azerbaijan. However, a German court found no grounds for awarding him political refugee status.
In November 2021 Kerimli was deported to Azerbaijan and arrested two months later on charges of drug trafficking. The Baku Court of Grave Crimes sentenced Kerimli to six years of imprisonment. An appeals court reduced the sentence by one year.
Kerimli was recognised by human rights activists as a political prisoner.