| Submit your comments on this article |
| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| The court refused to soften the preventive measure for Aykhan Israfilov |
| 2023-12-20 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] The defense asked to transfer Azerbaijani activist Aykhan Israfilov under house arrest or send him to a pre-trial detention center adapted for the disabled, but the court refused to grant both requests, the lawyer said. The arrest of his brother had a serious impact on the condition of his mother, whom Aykhan was caring for, and the financial situation of the family, his sister said. As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, on August 11, a member of the board of the Confederation of Trade Unions of Azerbaijan during the "Democracy 1918" movement, Aykhan Israfilov, was detained and then arrested on charges of drug trafficking. Israfilov’s case is falsified and is retaliation for trade union activities, his associates said. The appellate court upheld the decision to arrest Israfilov, ignoring the appeal of human rights activists who called for a softening of the preventive measure due to the activist’s disability and family circumstances. A preparatory hearing was scheduled for December 11 in the Baku Serious Crimes Court in the case of Aykhan Israfilov, a member of the independent Confederation of Trade Unions "Working Platform" ( this is the name of the organization of which Israfilov is a member - note of the "Caucasian Knot" ), Aykhan Israfilov, but the hearing was postponed due to the failure of the state prosecutor to appear, lawyer Fariz Namazli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. On December 11, Israfilov complained that he was kept in an overcrowded cell in a pre-trial detention center and that the books that were brought to him were not handed over. In September, the Democracy 1918 movement announced the cessation of its activities due to the lack of political freedom in Azerbaijan. The trade union structures and student organization that operated during the movement will continue to work, activists said. The dissolution of the "Democracy 1918" movement will not soften the attitude of the authorities towards the activities of the structures that existed under it and will not entail immediate leniency towards the arrested trade union activists, indicated analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot". A preparatory hearing in the case of activist Aykhan Israfilov was held today at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, chaired by Judge Fakhri Mammadov. The presiding judge read out a written request from lawyer Fariz Namazli, who was absent from the court, to transfer Israfilov to house arrest. The defense lawyer motivated the petition by saying that the preliminary investigation had been completed and the grounds for keeping Israfilov in custody had been eliminated. The petition was supported by lawyer Parviz Hajili, who was present at the trial . “The witnesses in the case are police officers, and the assumption that Israfilov, being at large, can put pressure on them, is absolutely unfounded,” he noted. The lawyer also pointed out that Israfilov has not been convicted before, does not plead guilty, and a drug test did not reveal his drug addiction. Among other things, Israfilov is a disabled person of the third group. In addition, he has a mother in his care, a disabled person of the first group. If this request is not satisfied, the lawyer asked the court to make a decision to transfer him from pre-trial detention center-3 in the village of Shuvelan to Baku pre-trial detention center-1, explaining that the Shuvelan pre-trial detention center does not meet the conditions for keeping disabled people. The state prosecutor opposed changing the preventive measure, noting that “the grounds for keeping Aykhan Israfilov in custody remain until the completion of the judicial investigation.” And the prosecutor left the question of changing the pre-trial detention center to the discretion of the court. However, the court, after a short meeting, rejected both petitions and scheduled a hearing on the merits for 2:15 p.m. on December 26. However, the judge did not justify his decision in any way. The sister of activist Sevinj Israfilova reported on the difficult conditions of her brother’s detention in Shuvelansky pre-trial detention center-3. “This is an old pre-trial detention center. Prisoners are provided with untreated water for drinking. Salt water is provided for bathing. My brother is kept in a cell with 18 other prisoners, although it has a capacity of 10 people. They sleep in turns. The cell is constantly noisy. The room is not heated. If he had been transferred to the Kurdakhan pre-trial detention center (Baku pre-trial detention center-1), which is a modern prison complex, then at least the conditions there would be better, there would be a warm floor, the cells would be heated. But the judge today even refused this,” said S. Israfilova. The activist is a disabled person of the third group, she noted. “When Aykhan was 22 years old, he was electrocuted. After that, one of his legs cannot bend. Of course, for such a person, staying in prison is very difficult. The only request that was granted was that he was allowed to play sports once a week, that is, do exercises in connection with a leg disease,” said Sevinj Israfilova. For a long time, the activist was not given any books, she said. “But recently Ayhan was able to receive books. We gave him “1984” by James Orwell, “My Orange Lima Tree” by Jose Vasconcelos and “The Humiliated and Insulted” by Fyodor Dostoevsky,” Sevinj Israfilova said. According to her, the arrest of the activist created big problems for their family. "My mother is a disabled person of the first group. Aykhan looked after my mother. After his arrest, I moved to my mother. I have not been at home for four months. The biggest problem is the moral suffering of the mother, her concern for her brother. Injustice oppresses her. My brother even He doesn't smoke cigarettes, not to mention alcohol, but he doesn't drink energy drinks either, and he is accused of using drugs. And this despite the fact that the examination did not reveal any drugs on him. The investigation claims that he was found to have 8 grams of heroin, which he " found" on the street. But this is a very frivolous statement," she said. |
| Posted by:badanov |