Prosecutor requests 10 years of imprisonment for Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Culture

Public prosecutor asked the court to sentence Rafig Bairamov, the former Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Culture, to 10 years of imprisonment for abuse of power. The defence demanded to remove the arrest from the Rafig Bairamov’s bank account and claimed he was not guilty.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on May 9, 2020, it became known about the arrest of Rafig Bairamov and Zakir Sultanov, the former head of the State Service for the Protection, Development, and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, subordinate to the Ministry of Culture. They were charged with abuse of power and misappropriation of funds.

In court, advocate of Rafig Bairamov claimed that the defence did not agree with the charges and requested the court to lift the arrest of the defendant’s bank account, the APA reports.

The public prosecutor requested the court to sentence Rafig Bairamov to 10 years of imprisonment. According to the public prosecutor, by using their powers, Rafig Bairamov and Zakir Sultanov damaged the interests of the country. During the searches at their homes, law enforcers found records about the funds received by the employees of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, money, and other evidence, the “Day.az” reports.

According to the case materials, Zakir Sultanov embezzled part of the budget funds for the restoration of cultural heritage sites.