On October 28, a court hearing was held at the Ganja Court of Appeal regarding lawyer Zabil Gahramanov’s appeal against his arrest.
The hearing was presided over by Judge Alizamin Abdullayev.
The judge upheld the decision of the Ganja City Court and rejected the lawyer’s appeal.
On October 25, the Ganja City Court had ordered the detention of Zabil Gahramanov. He is accused of injuring a person after an argument at a car wash in Goygol on October 23.
Zabil Gahramanov has been charged under Articles 221.2.2 (hooliganism — resisting a government official or another person preventing a breach of public order) and 178.2.4 (fraud resulting in significant damage) of the Criminal Code.
Under the Ganja City Court’s decision, a three-month pretrial detention measure was applied against him.
Earlier, on October 8, the Board of the Bar Association had decided to suspend Zabil Gahramanov’s law license for six months.
Z. Gahramanov is known as the defense lawyer of Ilkin Suleymanov, who is accused of murdering 11-year-old Narmin Guliyeva in the Tovuz district. He has also represented Sahib Mammadzada, head of the Dashkasan district branch of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (AXCP), Shahin Hajiyev, a member of the party’s Ganja branch, and other activists.
It is suspected that he was punished for his social media posts and public statements criticizing police conduct in Ganja.
