Three arrested Azerbaijani citizens transferred to Derbent SIZO

Three out of 10 Azerbaijani citizens accused of assaulting policemen during a protest action in the tent camp have been transferred from the isolation facility of the Magaramkent District to the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Derbent, the advocate, Murad Velikhanov, has stated. The remaining seven detainees are still kept at the Khasavyurt SIZO, he said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that a temporary accommodation centre (TAC) was opened on the border of the Derbent and Magaramkent Districts of Dagestan for the citizens of Azerbaijan who failed to get home due to the border closure. On June 15, a protest action took place in the tent camp, which turned into clashes with law enforcers. A criminal case was opened against 10 Azerbaijanis on the use of violence against state servants and the deliberate destruction or damage to property; all of them were arrested by a court judgement for two months.

"Yesterday (on July 6), the above three defendants were taken to the Derbent SIZO. Perhaps, the remaining seven will soon also be moved there from the Khasavyurt SIZO," advocate Murad Velikhanov has explained.

The defendants refuse to plead guilty of attacking policemen, the advocate has added. "Investigators have indicted everyone on a template plot. According to their version, ten people threw stones at policemen and their cars. No one denies that there were riots, but my clients claim that they didn't take any part in them; they held no stones in hands, and therefore couldn't throw them," Velikhanov has stated.

He met his clients in the Derbent SIZO on July 7. "Their condition is normal. They did not make any complaints about the custody conditions. However, the detention itself was tough, with the use of force. But they are now most concerned about their release, and whether they can ever be released at all," the advocate has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 8, 2020 at 06:01 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.