Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend E.Javadova / The hearing of the criminal cases against Azerbaijan's former Minister of Economic Development, Farhad Aliyev, the President of Azpetrol, Rafik Aliyev and 17 others continued on 17 May in the Court on Heinous Crimes of Azerbaijan. The hearing is presided over by Judge Tofig Pashayev. The ex-Minister's advocate, Elton Guliyev, once again raised a petition to cease the criminal case.
Ali Mehdiyev, defending lawyer for Gadir Huseynly petitioned to take out the possibility of imprisonment as punishment and called for a cease to the criminal case. The lawyer explained in his petition that before his arrest, Huseynly was operated on and there are problems with his health. He added that the accusations against Huseynly have not been proved during initial investigation. Samir Isayev, defending attorney for Maarif Gurbanov raised the same petition. The court hearing continues.