10 January 2025, 21:44
Azerbaijani activist Rail Abbasov sentenced to freedom deprivation
A court in Baku has sentenced Rail Abbasov, an activist, to 6.5 years in jail, finding him guilty in a fraud case.
In September 2023, Rail Abbasov was arrested in a fraud case. On December 26, 2024, his defence stated that there were no proofs of his guilt and demanded to acquit Rail.
Abbasov is accused of deceiving a resident of Azerbaijan and embezzling a large sum of money. The charges are based on investigators' "abstract assumptions" and unjustified victim's allegations, the defence has stated.
In his final statement at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, Abbasov stated that the criminal case against him was falsified in retaliation for conducting a public campaign in defence of his arrested friend, Bakhtiyar Gadjiev, a human rights defender.
"He has pointed to numerous inconsistencies in the investigation materials as proofs of the fabrication of the charges. Abbasov called on the court to be fair and make a legal ruling, not to send an innocent person to prison. However, the court ... issued, apparently, a pre-prepared sentence to deprive Rail Abbasov of freedom for the term of 6.5 years," Elchin Sadygov, an advocate, has stated.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 7, 2025 at 05:02 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
