BAKU, April 2 (Reuters) – The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan on Thursday rejected an appeal by a prominent opposition politician who is serving a nine-year prison sentence, his lawyer told Reuters.
Tofig Yagublu, 65, is a member of the opposition Musavat party and has been jailed numerous times over three decades for protesting against the government of the South Caucasus country.
Yagublu was arrested in December 2023 and convicted in March last year of fraud and document forgery. His supporters say the case is politically motivated, while the authorities maintain he was rightly convicted of crimes.
His lawyer, Nemat Karimli, said the original trial was marred by serious procedural violations, and the defence plans to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Oil-producing Azerbaijan has come under criticism from the West for its human rights record following a string of arrests of independent journalists and political activists in recent years.
Baku rejects the criticism and says calls by Western diplomats for the release of those detained amount to interference in its judicial system.
(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Lucy Papachristou; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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