03 August 2019, 11:51
Prosecutor suggests mitigating punishments to convicts for riots in Ganja
The prosecutor has spoken at the Appeal Court and offered to re-qualify charges into softer ones for 11 people earlier convicted for participating in the events in Ganja in July 2018. The session was held amid the action held in front of the courthouse by convicts' relatives.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 22, 2019, 11 people were found guilty by the court of riots and the use of violence against state officials. The "Union for Freedom of Political Prisoners" of Azerbaijan declared these 11 convicts to be victims of political persecutions.
On July 3, 2018, there was an assassination attempt on Elmar Veliev, the head of the Ganja administration. Yunis Safarov, a 35-year-old native of Ganja, was detained. On July 10, in Ganja, about 200 people gathered outside the administration building and demanded to investigate the actions of Elmar Veliev. The police dispersed the rally. Two police officers were killed in clashes with the protesters.
In Baku, at the session of the Appeal Court, the prosecutor suggested to mitigate the convicts' verdicts, the "Turan" News Agency reported on August 2.
On August 2, the State Prosecutor, Djeikhun Aliev, stated that the court had earlier proved the defendants' guilt. However, he suggested to re-qualify the charges from Article 315.2 (use of violence against policemen dangerous to their health and life) to Article 315.1 (use of violence against policemen) and leave unchanged the charges under Article 220.1 (organization of mass riots or participation therein) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
The "Turan" explains that the above re-qualification will lead to reductions of prison terms.
In their turn, the convicts' advocates have stated that their clients' guilt was not proved and asked the court to acquit them.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 3, 2019 at 06:44 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
