Help is urged and needed for the arrested Azerbaijani political activist
- Zeynal Bagirzade
A local opposition activist Zeynal Bagirzadeh, accused of fraud and falsification of documents, was sentenced to 7 years and a half imprisonment by Nakhchivan Court for Serious Crimes with Judge Mahmud Jafarov presiding 0n 2 March 2012. In particular, Bagirzadeh is charged with forgery relating to getting disabled status at the Chernobyl Atomic power station.
Zeynal Bagirzadeh along with his brother Yashar Bagirsoy, who is the head of the regional branch of Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) are known for their active civil and political position.
The pressure on them intensified after last summer when they organized protests of villagers in Nehram village demanding water supply for irrigation.
You can read more on this case of last summer here: https://www.facebook.com/
Mr. Bagirzadeh’s case was accompanied by several violations of his rights including beatings in the prison and you can read the information here that I had distributed earlier: https://www.facebook.com/note.
During the investigation of the case Mr. Bagirzade forwarded four motions: to stop the criminal case as it was concocted, to make a determination about the private investigator of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR), Ilgar Askerov, because of a violation of procedural rules, to replace the arrest with another form of preventive action, and to allow taking video images. His appeals were never satisfied by the judge.
Bagirzadeh had also asked the judge for several times to create the conditions for his treatment, or at least, to provide adequate medical assistance in prison. The appeals had kept being postponed and then rejected.
Mr. Bagirzadeh’s lawyer Mr. Asabali Mustafayev is convinced that his client is innocent, and says that the charges are based only on the testimony of one man on the events of twenty years ago.
Pro-democracy and pro-oppositional Public Chamber of Azerbaijan uniting the major oppositional parties of the country and being set up aftermath the 2010 Parliamentary Elections made a statement and called upon the international community not to stay indifferent to the fate of an innocent man.
The Public Chamber considers Mr. Bagirzadeh’s case concocted, fabricated and politically driven.
Please, do not stay indifferent to the fate of the innocent man and use all the legal means to put a pressure on the authorities in Azerbaijan and achieve his soonest release.