Sources: apa.az, turan.az, presstv.ir
On July 21, 2015, the Baku Court of Appeal rejected an appeal of human rights defender and lawyer Intigam Aliyev sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, local and international press reported. Aliyev was arrested on charges of tax evasion, abuse of power, illegal entrepreneurship, and appropriation, charges widely seen as politically motivated.
During the hearing, Aliyev was placed into a glass “room-aquarium,” where he could not hear anything,
Turan
news agency reported. The judge also did not allow the defendant to sit next to his lawyers.
According to
presstv.ir
, Aliyev said he did not expect a fair trial as “even the minimum standards of a fair trial are not respected in Azerbaijan.” He also added: “This government does not comply with the decisions of the European Court. For power the decision of this simple structure is a piece of paper. We were arrested because we are defending the rights of people. In this country there is no judicial system.”
Aliyev’s attorney Javad Javadov stated: “The criminal case against my client has been falsified,” and added that Aliyev’s prosecution was “politically motivated.”
