Azerbaijani oppositionist left under arrest for 30 days

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) dismissed the defence appeal and left in custody Ramid Nagiev, a member of the youth committee of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), who was arrested for 30 days. Activist's colleagues from the PFPA believe the arrest of Ramid Nagiev is of political nature.

On March 31, law enforcers visited Ramid Nagiev at home and took him away with them "for a five-minute conversation." "An administrative protocol was drawn against the young man on failure to obey to law enforcers. According to the protocol, Ramid Nagiev committed acts of hooliganism in the street and when policemen called him to order, he did not obey to them," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed today by advocate Zibeida Sadygova.

According to the advocate, on the same day, March 31, the Binagadi District Court of Baku sentenced Ramid Nagiev to 30 days of an administrative arrest. "In the Baku Court of Appeal, we asked the judge to question family members of Ramid Nagiev as witnesses, since he was taken away from home and could not commit acts of hooliganism in the street. However, the court dismissed our arguments," said advocate Zibeida Sadygova. She noted that the BCA's hearing took place on April 9.

According to her, in administrative cases, the BCA is the highest authority in Azerbaijan, and now the defence can challenge the arrest at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

In her turn, Gezyal Bairamly, the deputy chair of the PFPA, states that the arrest of Ramid Nagiev is of political nature. "The National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) scheduled a rally for March 29. On March 30, law enforcers started to detain our activists. Apart Ramid Nagiev, three other activists were also arrested," Gezyal Bairamly noted.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 10, 2019 at 12:22 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.