Court to consider traffic accident case with Azerbaijani rights defender Ogtai Gyulyalyev

The preliminary investigation into a case on a road traffic accident involving Azerbaijani human rights defender Ogtai Gyulyalyev has been completed. The case materials have been transferred to the court, and a preparatory court hearing is scheduled for October 30. The human rights defender himself still stays in a coma.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 29, 2019, Ogtai Gyulyalyev, the head of the public alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", was hit by a car. The accident occurred after a press conference at which the human rights defender had delivered a speech about the plan of the campaign against torture. Ogtai Gyulyalyev fell into a coma and was transported to an Istanbul clinic. Investigators suggested that the road traffic accident was not intentional, while in response, human rights defenders demanded to make public a video of the accident. After the fourth surgery held on June 25, Ogtai Gyulyalyev felt better, but he did not come out of a coma.

Oppositionists and human rights defenders suggested that the road traffic accident with Ogtai Gyulyalyev was not accidental. The NGO "Civil Solidarity Platform", which brings together about 35 human rights organizations from different countries, also regards the road traffic accident as an attempt on Ogtai Gyulyalyev's life and called for an international investigation into the accident.