TORTURE IN JUN 2020

TORTURE AND REPRESSIONS IN JUNE 2020

18 June

An inmate convicted for ” Nardaran case” demands amputation of his rotting leg

Shamil Abdulaliyev

The believer Shamil Abdulaliyev was arrested along with theologian Tale Bagirzade and 16 other believers during a police operation in the village of Nardaran on 26 November 2015, and he was sentenced to 14.5 years imprisonment in January 2017.

Now, his relatives have announced that Sh. Abdulaliyev, a 35-year-old man, is facing a death penalty. The fact is that during his arrest the police fired randomly and three bullets hit Shamil. Two of those bullets have never been removed from his body, and now it has led to serious complications. Abdulaliyev wrote about all that in his petition submitted to the Nizami District Court. In his petition, Shamil Abdulaliyev made a request for his release from detention due to a serious illness that prevented him to serve his sentence. He also highlighted that during those 5 years, both, his father and he, as well as his lawyer had repeatedly submitted the letters to various state authorities requesting the treatment and extraction of the bullets from Shamil’s body. About three years ago, the doctors at the Azerbaijan Clinical Medical Centre performed a CT scan to pinpoint the precise bullets place in his body,

“According to the medical examination his right leg was excessively bent, and it was 10 centimetres shorter. The doctors said that it was an urge to undergo an operation in order to remove the bullets from his right leg. In the meantime, they suggested a physiotherapy prior to the surgery, The doctors warned that if the operation was delayed, the right leg would be amputated. Recently, the doctors who examined the leg, said that it was too late and therefore the leg had to be amputated.”

According to the Adil Abdullayev, in the Main Medical department at the Ministry of Justice, said that his son’s leg had been rotting away and therefore, it should be operated, but only when his turn comes. But, according to the Adil Abdullayev,

“Shamil declares that he cannot tolerate the pain any longer and, only an urgent surgery and amputation of the leg could save him, since the leg is rotting away and causes the danger of poisoning of his entire body.”

Following Shamil Abdulaliyev’s statement, the Court ordered an expert examination in his case. A special medical expert commission of the Main Medical Department at the Ministry of Justice issued its verdict. The physicians confirmed that there were two bullets in Shamil Abdulaliyev’s body but pointed out that they were not life-threatening,

“His illness does not correspond to the elements mentioned in the “List of severe diseases that prevent convicts from serving their sentences”. The illness symptoms qualify the inmate to continue serving his sentence. He can be treated in the institution where he is serving his sentence.”

On 12 June 2020, the Baku City Nizami District Court heard the motion online. Sh. Abdulaliyev connected to the video trial and said that he did not expect any other response as a result of the Ministry of Justice doctors’ expertise,

“I knew that those who had ordered the arrest of an innocent person would not allow me to be freed”.

The Judge Rauf Ahmadov did not grant Shamil Abdulaliyev’s petition on the basis of the forensic report. His father Adil Abdulaliyev said that the ruling would be appealed,

“And if the local courts do not consider this case fairly, then we will file a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights. This is a murder of a man that takes place before our eyes, this is an act of torture”.