08 September 2020, 21:38
Investigators mitigate charges against two Azerbaijani oppositionists
The charges with the violent seizure of power were removed from Mamed Ibragim and Fuad Gakhramanly, members of the Presidium of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA). At the same time, new charges were brought against them under a less serious article of a crime against a person.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that after a rally held in Baku on July 15, Mamed Ibragim and Fuad Gakhramanly were accused of deliberately destroying or damaging other people's property, violating public order, resisting a public officer, as well as attempting to forcibly seize power. The oppositionists face up to 20 years of imprisonment.
Advocate Asabali Mustafaev notes that although Mamed Ibragim is still being charged under four articles of the Criminal Code, the maximum sentence he faces has been reduced to seven or eight years of imprisonment. Meanwhile, Mamed Ibragim pleads not guilty under all articles.
"The PFPA members did not commit any illegal actions at the rally held on July 15, and some of them did not even participate in the march," reported Tezekhan Miralamli, an officer of the PFPA's press service.
A wave of arrests following the rally held in Baku on July 15 can lead to the disappearance of the already highly scattered opposition, the human rights organization "Amnesty International" (AI) claimed.
Co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) also criticized the Azerbaijan's authorities for the mass detentions of the activists who took part in the rally in Baku on July 15.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 8, 2020 at 01:11 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent
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