Azerbaijani human rights activist Aliyev received 7 and a half years

The Baku Court of Court of Crime Crime Court, chaired by Rasim Sadykhov, sentenced the head of the NGO "Society for Legal Education" by Intigam Aliyev to 7 and a half years of general regime. It is reported by haqqin.az. As the Caucasian Knot clarifies , the human rights activist is also prohibited for 3 years after the retirement of the deadline to occupy senior positions in the authorities and in NGOs.

Aliyev was found guilty under Articles 213.1 (tax evasion), 308.2 (abuse of authority, entailing grave consequences), 192.2 (illegal entrepreneurship) and 179.3.2 (assignment or waste) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. The prosecutor requested 10 years of general regime for the defendant.

Earlier on Wednesday, the social activist made the last word. He completely rejected the charges against him, saying that he was persecuted "for political reasons for human rights, lawyer and social activities." "Protection of the rights of citizens of Azerbaijan in the European Court of Human Rights, informing the international community about the facts of violation of human rights in the country caused irritation of the official Baku," Aliyev noted.

At the same time, he assured that he was not afraid of the conviction. "The arrests can take freedom from us, but not the desire to be free. A free person is free everywhere. Our arrest is a continuation of our struggle," the human rights activist said.

Aliyev is 52 years old. He practiced as a lawyer and taught various branches of law in a number of private universities in Azerbaijan. The author of more than 20 books. Expert of a number of international structures, including the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

Aliyev headed the "legal education" in 1999. He participated in the preparation of more than 300 complaints in the ECHR, played a lawyer in more than 200 cases considered in Strasbourg, and won 40 cases. He actively provided legal assistance to the persecuted participants in peaceful protests.

Aliyev was arrested on August 8, 2014. Preliminary hearings in the case were held in January 2015, and the trial on the merits continued on February 3. The court rejected the defense of the defense. In protest against this, the accused refused to testify in court.

The pursuit of a social activist was begun as part of a campaign of a total attack on independent NGOs. A little earlier, the authorities threw the director of the Institute of Peace and Democracy Leila Yunus , her husband and expert of the same institute Arifa Yunus, as well as the head of the NPO “Human Rights Club” Rasul Jafarov . All of them were charged with a number of serious economic crimes, and the spouses of Yunus - in addition, and the state treason.

The investigation of Yunus continues. Meanwhile, Jafarov was tried simultaneously with Aliyev, and last week he received 6 and a half years of general regime.

In October 2014, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee awarded all 98 political prisoners of Azerbaijan, including Aliyev, the Sakharov Fibricate Prize.