The Baku Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from opposition politician Gozal Bayramli on 7 June, to be released from pretrial detention and be placed under house arrest.
Bayramli’s lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, said that her client cannot receive the medical treatment she needs while in prison. ‘Bayramli has undergone three surgeries. So, we requested her release at least for humanitarian reasons’, Caucasian Knotquoted Sadigova.
Bayramli, who is deputy head of the opposition Popular Front Party, was detained on 25 May while crossing the Georgian–Azerbaijani border for allegedly smuggling €12,000 ($13,400) in cash. She has rejected the accusations, calling them politically motivated.
According to RFE/RL, many members of the Popular Front have been arrested and some imprisoned over the past few years, on what their supporters call bogus charges. Party head Ali Karimli has come under intense criticism from government-controlled media.
Azerbaijani pro-government website Haqqin.az, which is thought to be controlled by the government’s Chief of Intelligence, has published several pieces claiming that opposition figures in exile in Georgia are planning to overthrow President Aliyev’s regime. A recent article published on 3 June discusses an alleged scheme involving Bayramli, imprisoned journalist Afgan Mukhtarli, and others, claiming that ‘all the tracks lead to Ali Karimli’.
Mukhtarli, who was critical of Azerbaijan’s authorities, was abducted from Tbilisi and taken to Baku, where he is being held in pretrial detention for allegedly smuggling €10,000 ($11,200), ‘border trespass’, and ‘disobeying border guards’.
Georgian and international rights groups and journalists say that these cases illustrate Azerbaijan’s crackdown on anyone critical of Aliyev’s regime.
The European Union, as well as a number of international human rights organisations, have urged Azerbaijan to release detained opposition figures. The US State Department said on 3 June that the United States is ‘troubled’ by the detention of Bayramli.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond doubt that the Georgian Government abducted investigative journalist Afgan Mukhtarli and handed him over to Azerbaijan.
Mukhtarli, a prominent journalist known for investigating official corruption in Azerbaijan, disappeared from the streets of Tbilisi on the night of 29 May 2017. He reappeared in Azerbaijani custody a day later and was charged with illegally crossing the border.
In it
The former deputy head of the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG), Ioseb (Soso) Gogashvili, has been sentenced to five years in prison on charges including abuse of power. Supporters of the former official claim the charges are politically motivated.
Tbilisi City Court announced the decision on Tuesday afternoon.
The court found Gogashvili guilty of all five charges, which included exceeding official powers, obtaining, storing, and disseminating personal data, and illegally purchasing a
In this week’s episode of the Caucasus Digest, Robin Fabbro talks to Ani Avetisyan and Ismi Aghayev about the latest accusations of war crimes levelled against Azerbaijan.
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OC Media co-director and journalist Mariam Nikuradze discusses the Georgian State Security Service
Azerbaijani journalist Afgan Mukhtarli has identified Giorgi Trapaidze, the head of Georgian counterintelligence, as being personally among his abductors.
Nodar Meladzis Shabati, an investigative show on TV channel Pirveli, broke the story on 1 October.
After showing Mukhtarli images of three officials from the State Security Service (SSG) possibly involved in his kidnapping, Mukhtarli recognised Trapaidze as the driver of the car by which he was taken from Tbilisi.
Mukhtarli, a prominent
The Baku Court of Appeals rejected an appeal from opposition politician Gozal Bayramli on 7 June, to be released from pretrial detention and be placed under house arrest. 
