Elchin Mamed sentenced to four years in jail

The Sumgait City Court has sentenced Elchin Mamed, a journalist and a human rights defender to four years of imprisonment. He has denied the charges of illegal weapon possession and a theft, and has linked his prosecution with his human rights activities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Elchin Mamed, the head of the NGO "Legal Education of the Youth of Sumgait" and the editor-in-chief of the website "Yukselish Namine" (In the Name of Revival), was detained on March 30 and accused of a theft.

On October 16, the Sumgait City Court found Mamed guilty under Articles 177.2.4 (theft) and 228.1 (illegal weapon possession) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan and sentenced him to four years in prison, Elchin Gasanov, a deputy chairman of the above NGO, has reported.

"In his last plea [at the trial], Elchin Mamed denied the accusation. He said that he was being persecuted because of his human rights activities and, in particular, for disseminating a critical report on the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan. Elchin Mamed recalled that he had been summoned to [law enforcement bodies] several times and had been warned about the consequences if he did not stop criticizing authorities," Mr Gasanov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 17, 2020 at 03:18 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.