Document #1284741

RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Author)

Opposition Activist Jailed In Azerbaijan


By RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service

February 03, 2016

BABEK, Azerbaijan -- A court in Azerbaijan's Naxcivan exclave has sentenced an opposition activist to eight years in jail.

The Babek district court on February 3 found Zeynalabdin Bagirzade, a member of Azerbaijan's Popular Front party (AXCP), guilty of violent resistance to authorities. He had been arrested in November.

Taking into account that Bagirzade was serving a 2012 conditional sentence for fraud, the court sentenced Bagirzade to eight years in jail.

Bagirzade's brother, Yasar Bagirsoy, who is the chairman of the AXCP's branch in the region, said that the case was politically motivated.

The oil-rich former Soviet republic has faced harsh criticism for jailing independent reporters, human rights activists, and civil-society advocates.

With reporting by Turan

Copyright (c) 2010-2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

ecoi.net description:
Naxcivan exclave: Court sentences opposition activist Zeynalabdin Bagirzade to eight years in jail
Country:
Azerbaijan
Source:
RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Author)
Original link:
http://www.rferl.org/content/azerbaijan-opposition-activist-jailed/27530532.html
Document type:
Media Report
Language:
English
Published:
3 February 2016
Document ID:
1284741 (former ID 318703)

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