BCA releases athlete Mamedzade

The Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) replaced the real term of imprisonment with a suspended sentence for athlete Said Mamedzade, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, charged with disorderly conduct after his open support for the opposition.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that athlete Said Mamedzade was arrested on the charge of disorderly conduct in May 2020. The Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) declares that the charge has been fabricated and that Said Mamedzade is being prosecuted for political reasons. On April 28, 2021, the Khatai District Court of Baku sentenced Said Mamedzade to 3.5 years of imprisonment. Human rights defenders consider the sentence to the athlete the revenge for his support to the opposition.

Today, the Baku Court of Appeal has finished the consideration of the appeal against the verdict to Said Mamedzade. The BCA replaced the real term of imprisonment with the same term of suspended sentence and a two-year probationary period, advocate Elchin Sadygov reports.

“We sought an acquittal and release of Said Mamedzade, because there is no reliable evidence of his guilt in the case. However, the BCA only mitigated the sentence and replaced the imprisonment term with a suspended sentence,” advocate Elchin Sadygov told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

The advocate has also announced the intention of the defence to file a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court (SC) with a request to completely stop the criminal proceedings against the activist.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 22, 2021 at 12:59 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.