Court refuses to investigate torture of Azerbaijani activist Ali Zeynal

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) has rejected a complaint lodged by activist Ali Zeynal, arrested in the “Toplum TV” case, who requested an investigation into violence by the police.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that the activists and journalists arrested in the “Toplum TV” case, accused of foreign currency smuggling, were charged with new accusations under six criminal articles on January 16 and 17. The defendants face up to 12 years of imprisonment. On February 10, the “Toplum TV” announced the suspension of its activities in Azerbaijan.

“Ali Zeynal was detained on March 6, 2024. On the other day, he was beaten at a police station, subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment. In particular, Ali Zeynal was requested to disclose a password from his PC. When Ali Zeynal refused to provide the password, he was beaten and threatened with rape with a baton. Only after that Ali was forced to disclose the password,” reported advocate Fariz Namazly.

The advocate stated that Ali Zeynal complained about torture to the General Prosecutor’s Office, but the initiation of a criminal case on the fact of torture was refused. Now the defence will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Fariz Namazly noted that in the period from 2021 until his arrest in March 2024, Ali Zeynal was a coordinator of the programme for young journalists - the Institute of Democratic Initiatives, a partner organization of the “Toplum TV”.