Advocates complain about restriction of Tofig Yagublu's rights to defence

Azerbaijani oppositionist Tofig Yagublu, who continues his hunger strike, is not allowed to be visited by his family members and to communicate with them via mobile phone, his daughter said. The defence complained about the delay in the consideration of an appeal filed in the Tofig Yagublu's case.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 2, oppositionist Tofig Yagublu declared a hunger strike. On the other day, the court sentenced him to four years and three months of imprisonment. On September 12, Tofig Yagublu was transferred to a private clinic amid the threat of a coma.

Tofig Yagublu has been continuing his hunger strike for 13 days already, and his health state is deteriorating every day, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been told by Nigyar Khazi, a daughter of the politician.

"He still stays at a resuscitation ward. According to his will, the father does not get any injections with nutrients. He gets only a system (of medicine dropper) to eliminate the effects of dehydration. We are very worried about the father. But family members are not allowed to visit him," said Nigyar Khazi.

The politician's daughter also noted that out of three advocates engaged in defence of Tofig Yagublu, only one of them, Elchin Sadygov, had been allowed to visit the client at the hospital.

Advocate Nemat Kerimli treats the ban on visits of advocates and relatives to Tofig Yagublu as "a violation of the right to defence." "There can be no excuses for not allowing an advocate to visit his client. Each of us [advocates] should have direct contact with the client to perform our professional duties," Nemat Kerimli told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Advocate Elchin Sadygov reported that the Tofig Yagublu's health state was deteriorating. According to the advocate, despite the fact that the appeal against the verdict was filed back on September 7, it has not yet been sent from the Nizami District Court to the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA). Given the Tofig Yagublu's health state, the defence insists on urgently sending the appeal to the BCA, the advocate emphasizes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 14, 2020 at 05:48 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.