Azeri Prosecutor's Office finds complaint of blogger Guseinov about torture unjustified

On February 1, the Baku City Prosecutor's Office refused to open a criminal case about the torture of the blogger Mekhman Guseinov during his custody at the police. His advocate intends to challenge the refusal.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Mekhman Guseinov, the chairman of the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS), was detained on January 9. On January 10, the Nasimi District Court of Baku fined Mekhman Guseinov for disobeying the police. Mekhman Guseinov stated that he was tortured at the police; however, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of Azerbaijan accused him of defamation.

"We filed a complaint to the Prosecutor's Office about Mekhman Guseinov’s torture during his detention at the 22^nd station of the Nasimi District Police Division, and asked to open a criminal case. On February 1, I was served an official decision to refuse to open a criminal case,” Elchin Sadygov, a blogger’s advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The investigator Khafiz Aliev has concluded that ‘there were no sufficient grounds for opening a criminal case.’ In fact, there are more grounds than needed. We presented photos with traces of violence – bruises, redness and blood-stained clothes. Moreover, they twice called ambulances to Mekhman. The inquiry of the Prosecutor's Office was biased,” the advocate has concluded.

Elchin Sadygov said that he would complain against the decision to refuse to open a criminal case.

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