02 October 2019, 07:09
Gusein Abdullaev, former Azerbaijani MP, sentenced to six years in prison
A court in Baku has found Gusein Abdullaev, a former MP, extradited from Turkey, guilty of tax evasion, illegal entrepreneurship, fraud and extortion. Abdullaev declared his political persecution.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in July 2013, Abdullaev asked for political asylum in Germany; later, April 23, 2019, he was detained in Turkey and extradited to his homeland.
Abdullaev was suspected of tax evasion in June 2013, after the publication of a video clip to his song "Susma!" (Don't Be Silent!), which showed dispersals of protests in Baku by policemen.
According to Djavid Rzazade, Gusein Abdullaev's advocate, his client's rights to telephone calls and relatives' visits had been violated during the entire period after his arrest.
Abdullaev himself has stated that investigators had fabricated the charges, noting that his family's land plot had been captured; and they built an office of the ruling "Eni Azerbaijan Party" in it.
Abdullaev intensified his oppositional activities in July 2013. Thus, he sent an appeal in support of the oppositional National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), recalling that he had been once criminally prosecuted after criticizing the government in parliament, when he was an MP there.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 1, 2019 at 11:16 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent
