Court of Appeal detains Anar Mammadli

On May 6, the Baku Court of Appeal, chaired by Sabit Bahramzade, considered an appeal against the arrest of the head of the Center for Election Monitoring and Democracy Education (CEMDE) Anar Mammadli.

The court did not satisfy the complaint and upheld the decision of the Khatai district court, lawyer Elmar Suleymanov told .

The lawyer drew attention to the fact that the court of first instance committed a number of violations.

“In particular, the court, in violation of the criminal procedure legislation, did not provide an audio recording of the process,” the lawyer said.

Besides, the court’s decision did not specify the lawyer’s petitions. The court also did not satisfy the lawyer’s request to create conditions for him to familiarize himself with the case materials.

Suleymanov’s lawyer wrote a written complaint about these violations to the Judicial and Legal Council, the chairman of the Baku Court of Appeal and the Khatai district court.

“I voiced this at today’s court session,” the lawyer said.

The defense again pointed to the lack of grounds for Mammadli’s detention.

“We do not see any grounds for arrest. Anar Mammadli did not hide from the investigation,” Suleymanov stressed.

The defense also pointed to violations of Articles 5 (Right to freedom and personal integrity) and 18 (Limits on the use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention of Human Rights in relation to Mammadli.

Mammadli himself also protested, and stated that the criminal case was related to his public activities.
Recall that Mammadli was detained on April 29. The next day, he was charged under Article 206.3.2 (Smuggling by a group of persons by prior agreement) of the Criminal Code. He is involved in the case of “Abzas Media”.

At present, 8 people have been arrested in this case, including Mammadli.