Decision to arrest Anar Mammadli made in violation of law – lawyer

When imposing a preventive measure in the form of arrest of Anar Mammadli, head of the Center for Election Monitoring and Democracy Education (CEMDE), the authorities violated the law. His lawyer Elmar Suleymanov wrote about it on his facebook page.

Thus, contrary to Article 51.6-1 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), the judge of the Khatai district court of Baku, Sulhana Hajiyeva, failed to ensure that the audio recording of the meeting was kept.

“Moreover, she unreasonably rejected the defense’s request to ensure the specified provision of the law,” the lawyer noted.

He also pointed out that, in violation of Article 51.7 of the CCP, the court did not allow the lawyer to familiarize himself with the minutes of the meeting, despite the submitted application.

Also, in violation of Article 51-1.6 of the CCP, documents that should be issued to him by the court were not placed in the electronic office of the lawyer.

The appeal against the arrest in the Court of Appeal is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on May 6th.

* In November 2023 – January 2024, eight journalists and media workers associated with ” Media” were arrested.

In April, the head of the site meclis.info Imran Aliyev and the head of the Center for Election Monitoring and Democracy Education Anar Mammadli were also arrested.

To remind, all the defendants in the case were charged with “smuggling of foreign currency by prior agreement.” The journalists deny the charges and link the criminal case to corruption investigations. Aliyev and Mammadli declared their non-involvement in the activities of “Abzas Media” at all. Human rights activists recognized those arrested as political prisoners.