Baku court ignores Fikret Faramazoglu's defence's complaints about torture

A court in Baku has dismissed the complaint of torture applied to journalist Fikret Faramazoglu, accused of extortion. The court has ignored the arguments of his advocate, who asserted that most of his client's teeth had been knocked out. In this context, the advocate intends to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Fikret Faramazoglu was placed in custody on charges of extortion. His advocate has stated that Faramazoglu had confessed under torture.

The consideration of the above journalist's complaint was held today at the Sabail District Court of Baku, chaired by Judge Rauf Akhmedov.

"After detention, Fikret Faramazoglu was kept for more than two weeks at the Chief Department for Combating Organized Crime (known as GUBOP), which in itself is a gross violation of the law. According to Fikret Faramazoglu, he was beaten up with a baseball bat in order to force him to confess," Elchin Sadygov, Fikret's advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The advocate has added that there is evidence of violence applied to Faramazoglu. "My client has many of his teeth knocked out; only 7-8 teeth are still in place. Therefore, we requested a forensic examination to establish the consequences of violence. However, this petition was dismissed," said Sadygov.

According to his version, the defence raised the issue of violation of Faramazoglu's rights, guaranteed by Article 3 (prohibition of torture) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), and demanded to investigate the fact of torture.

The court has rejected the defence's arguments and dismissed the complaint.

"We'll appeal against the judgement," said the advocate.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.