The trial in the case of the activist of the Popular Front Party Mutallim Orudjev will be online. The defense regards this as a violation of Orudjev’s rights and the principle of justice.
On June 2, a preparatory session began in the Sumgayit City Court. After the meeting, lawyer Neymat Karimli told Turan that the court decided to conduct the process online.
“That is, the accused will be connected to the court from the pre-trial detention center. The judge motivated this decision by the “existing situation”, but did not answer my persistent questions about what prevents the process from being held in person. There are no reasonable grounds for holding an online trial,” the lawyer said. In his opinion, all this violates the rights of the accused and Azerbaijan’s international obligations to ensure a fair trial. The preparatory meeting will continue on June 16, the lawyer added.
Mutallim Orudjev was arrested on charges of drug trafficking in October 2021 – five months after his expulsion from Germany, where he lived as a political emigrant.
He was charged under Article 234.4.3 (drug trafficking) of the Criminal Code, under which he faces up to 12 years in prison. The Popular Front Party is convinced that Orudzhev was arrested for political reasons – as one of the participants in the protests in Germany against human rights violations in Azerbaijan. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner.
Source: IRFS