On 17 January, Binagadi District Court in Baku sentenced Rustam Orujov to four years and six months in prison. Orujov is the son of the former Deputy Chief of the State Service for Mobilization and Conscription, General Novruzali Orujov.
On 3 July, 2017, Rustam Orujov was scolded by a bus driver for driving recklessly and scaring the bus passengers. Orujov, who had no driver’s license, proceeded to follow the bus in his car for eight stops and then, with a group of friends, to physically assault the driver in front of the passengers.
At the time of the incident, Orujov was on parole, having served part of a four-year sentence for killing a pedestrian in a hit-and-run accident in 2014.
On 11 July, 2017, Orujov’s father, General Novruzali Orujov, was fired from his position at Azerbaijan’s conscription service on the orders of President Ilham Aliyev due to his son’s behavior.
Rustam Orujov’s case was not the only example of an official’s son driving recklessly in Azerbaijan last year. On 18 December, Nail Allahverdiyev was sentenced to six years in prison for killing two pedestrians in a Mercedes G-Wagon on 3 August. 23-year-old Allahverdiyev is the grandson of Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov.
