Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
February 27, 2015 Friday
Court of Appeal Leaves Arif Yunus in Custody
The Baku Court of Appeal chaired by Abid Abdinbekov dismissed the
complaint brought by the conflict expert Arif Yunus about the
extension of his arrest until August 5.
As the lawyer Afghan Mammadov told Turan, Yunus declared illegal the
extension of his arrest, as well as the prosecution itself.
In this case, Yunus pointed to special diligence of the judge Babak
Panahov at the Nasimi District Court in the decision to extend the
arrest.
The lawyer also considers unreasonable the unfair extension of the
detention. The investigation motivated this by standard wording that,
remaining free, the accused “can hide from the investigation and use
his authority to influence the witnesses.”
The lawyer also pointed out that any active investigation against
Yunus is not carried out.
The detention has a negative impact on the health of Yunus, who
suffered a hypertensive crisis before his arrest and suffers from
cardiovascular disease.
* Yunus was arrested on August 5, 2014, a week after the arrest of his
wife, human rights activist Leyla Yunus. The couple is accused of
espionage in favor of Armenia. Amnesty International has recognized
them as “prisoners of conscience”.