Azerbaijan releases another 19 people charged under Tartar case

By Azernews

By Sabina Mammadli

Azerbaijan has set free another 19 people, 10 of whom were acquitted, under the so-called Tartar case, Azernews reports per the Prosecutor-General's Office.

Previously three counts of criminal cases against 19 persons, convicted on charges of high treason and other articles returned to court, were reexamined by the Plenum of the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan due to newly-found circumstances based on the appeal of the prosecutor's office.

The decisions on the above criminal cases were canceled, and the cases were returned to the relevant courts, where they were canceled once again and returned to the prosecutor's office in charge of the procedural guidance of the preliminary investigation.

During the further investigation, all circumstances related to the criminal prosecution were thoroughly investigated, and since the guilt of these persons on charges of high treason was not proven, they were acquitted under Article 39.2 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Azerbaijan.

Additionally, within the proceeding, decisions were made to halt criminal prosecution against 10 persons on other episodes (crimes against military service, and others) and release them with the abolition of a measure of restraint in the form of arrest chosen against the persons.

Meanwhile, all the cases related to the deceased Mehman Huseynov and Elxan Agazada were thoroughly investigated, and decisions were made to terminate the criminal proceedings on acquittal grounds.

Moreover, the investigation team is conducting criminal proceedings against several military personnel who served at military units of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry in Tartar, Aghdam, and Beylagan districts. Thus, the team has conducted all-inclusive investigations against a group of servicemen, who tortured alleged suspects to death, while interviewing them without proper authority and in violation of the criminal procedural rules, from May through June 2017.

To recap, a criminal case was initiated by the Azerbaijan Military Prosecutor's Office under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code in connection with the unlawful actions of some servicemen of the military units of the Defense Ministry based in Tartar, Aghdam, and Beylagan districts, committed in May-June 2017, which consisted of the interrogation of persons suspected of committing illegal actions, the use of physical and psychological violence, torture, an inhuman and degrading treatment that led to death and other grave consequences.