Azerbaijan, Baku, 8 April / Trend corr K. Zarbaliyeva/ The attorney of the Azadlig newspaper's journalist, who was stabbed last month, brought an action against the investigator of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's attorney.
On 8 April, the Institution for Media Rights said that Agil Khalil's attorney Elchin Sadigov believes his rights have been infringed - the right for freedom and inviolability, as well as the right for equitable criminal proceedings. He demands to punish Ali Guliyev, the investigator of the Hard Crime Investigation Department at the Prosecutor General's Office, and also wants to receive compensation for the same.
Sadigov submitted his petition to the Nasimi District Court in Baku.
Agil Khalil twice sustained armed attack and his attorney is dissatisfied that on 4 April, during interrogation of his client at the Investigation Department, he was not allowed to exercise his attorney rights. Sadigov also protests that Khalil was kept in a closed room for over 12 hours and investigator Ali Guliyev did not allow him to leave the Investigation Department.
The petition says that Sadigov as attorney of the journalist was invited to the interrogation. Although the attorney reached the Investigation Department on time (at 2.30pm), he had to wait for 2 hours. The attorney legislation says that attorney's participation in the interrogation is not obligatory, so he wanted to leave he was not allowed because of the absence of investigator Guliyev's signature. At 5.30pm Sadigov joined the interrogation, but he was not allowed to ask any questions either to the witnesses or to the detainees. The interrogation was videotaped, but when the attorney insisted on asking questions, the filming was stopped. The interrogation lasted till 2.00am. During the 12 hours of investigation at the Prosecutor General's Office, the attorney was not allowed to inform his relatives about of his well being.
Sadigov considers that keeping him for 12-hour at the Prosecutor' Office is illegal, groundless and almost resembles arrest. He says that the investigator seriously broke the Constitution, the Criminal-Procedural Code, Article 5 (rights for freedom and personal inviolability) and 6 (right for equitable criminal proceedings) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedom.
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