12:59, 16 January 2017

Azerbaijani activist Elgiz Gakhramanov sentenced to 5.5 years in prison

Elgiz Gakhramanov. Photo from activist’s Facebook page, facebook.com/elgiz.gahraman

The Baku Court of Grave Crimes has recognized Elgiz Gakhramanov, an activist of the "Nida" movement, guilty of large-scale drug dealing and sentenced him to 5 years and 6 months of imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Elgiz Gakhramanov was arrested on August 12, 2016. The prosecutor asked the court to sentence him to six years in prison, while the defence urged the court to acquit Elgiz Gakhramanov.

The today's pronouncement of the verdict at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes has been preceded by the final speech of the defendant, in which he rejected the charges against him.

Elgiz Gakhramanov has stated that he is being prosecuted for civic engagement and his posts on the Facebook criticizing the authorities.

Elgiz Gakhramanov was running for the Azerbaijani Parliament at the elections held in 2015. His defence believes that the drugs had been planted on the activist by the police and then Elgiz Gakhramanov was tortured for confession.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent