Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. K. Zarbaliyeva /The Baku Appeals Court upheld the sentence of the former officer of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Interior Ministry of Azerbaijan, Haji Mammadov, along with appeals from the criminal gang he led.
The criminal ring headed by Mammadov was first detained during operation 'Black Belt', by Azerbaijan's Ministry of National Security in March 2005.
During the initial investigation, the Ministry discovered that from 1995 to 2005, Mammadov and his co-conspirators committed 13 assassinations and 8 kidnappings, in addition to other crimes.
On 28 November, the court announced its judgment regarding Mammadov's appeal and the appeals of the other convicted gang members. The judgment partially decreased the sentence of three of the convicts. According to the ruling, the imprisonment period of Novruz Nuriyev was decreased from 12 to 11 years.
The original verdict of the Sabayl District Court was also annulled by the appeal, and the confiscation of Kamil Sadraddinov's property was lifted.
According to the judgment, the imprisonment sentence of Nizami Abdullayev will be calculated starting from the day he was arrested by the police in the Jeleznodoroj city of Russia on 8 December 2005.
The sentences regarding the remaining members of the gang were upheld. The Baku Appeals Court made a special decision to send the documents to Azerbaijan's Prosecutor General's Office for verification of the evidence against the convicted men.
The Court initially ruled that Mammadov's property was to be seized and he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Members of the gang were also sentenced accordingly: Farhad Mammadbayov, Eldar Rahimov, Malik Mammadov, Huseyin Abdulvahabov, Zakir Nasirov and Kamil Sadraddinov, all with confiscation of property; Musa Dabuyev, Aslanbay Chintamirov, and Yagir Mammadov were sentenced to life imprisonment. The other defendants, Nizami Abdullayev (with confiscation of property), Sidak Abdulvahabov, and Rovshan Agayev were sentenced to fifteen years; Naila Guliyeva (with confiscation of property) to thirteen years; Adalat Asadullayev and Novruz Nuriyev to twelve years; Aligulu Guliyev and Nishad Ismayilov to ten years; Faik Guliyev, Elchin Aliyev (with confiscation of property) to nine years; and Mehman Hasanov, Fariz Gamidov, and Elshan Mirzayev to eight years imprisonment. Agil Huseynov and Azar Aliyev were given a two-year suspended sentence. The criminal case against Ibrahim Bagirov concerning a fine for state damage was suspended.