The Public Prosecutor of Azerbaijan has demanded a 7 year sentence for Azerbaijani oppositionist and member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Fuad Ahmadli.
The announcement was made during a June 6
hearing
.
The defense in turn asked for a complete acquittal.
Fuad Ahmadli was detained on August 18, 2016 on charges of being a supporter and having links with the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen. In addition, he is accused of transferring personal data of subscribers of the mobile company he worked for, “Azerfon”, to third parties.
Soon after the arrest he was put in pre-trial detention.
On March
3rd 2017 his detention term was extended by three months. After the trial started in April, the court dismissed an appeal to acquit him and release him from custody.
Ahmadli is charged under Articles 302 (violation of the legislation on operational-search activity) and 308 (abuse of official powers) of the
Criminal Codex of Azerbaijan.
During the June 6 hearing, the court considered and rejected several petitions that the defense had put forward earlier.
“We asked the court to interrogate the general director of Azerfon as a witness. He could explain in court what kind of authority Fuad Ahmedli possessed, that he was just an operator in the company. And in general – did Fuad violate the official instructions, because there was never any punishment against him. The judges rejected the petition without explanation”, Asabali Mustafayev, Ahmadil’s lawyer, was quoted by the
Caucasian Knot
as saying.
In addition, the judge Fikret Garibov read out Shahin Guliyev’s testimony.
“Shakhin Guliyev’s testimony in general was in favor of Fuad Ahmadli. This man said that he worked as a freight forwarder in a wholesale trading company and carried goods to shops. The owner of one of the stores owes him and closed his object. To find this man, Shahin Guliyev wanted to find out his location by placing a mobile phone number. To do this, he turned to Fuad Ahmadli for help. Ahmedli told him that “there is no such person in the system at all.” That is, in fact, Ahmedli did not give the witness personal data of a third person”, Mustafayev was quoted by the
Caucasian Knot
as saying.
After that, the official completion of the judicial investigation was announced and prosecutor Anar Tariverdiev requested the 7 years sentence for Ahmadli.
The next hearing is scheduled for June 16.
