Ali Aliyev, chairman of the Citizens and Development Party, who was arrested on defamation charges under the Criminal Code, disagreed with the charges, so he appealed, and the trial is set for February 11, his lawyer said.
In January, the party's chairman was charged with defamation under Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code in Baku's Yasamal district court.
Prosecutors say his remarks on a YouTube channel about the November 30 military helicopter crash are slander. In his speech on this channel, Ali Aliyev questioned the possibility of surviving the accident, which killed 14 servicemen and wounded two others.
Emil Jafarov, a lieutenant colonel of the State Border Service, and Captain Ramin Adilov, who survived the helicopter crash, sued Ali Aliyev for these views.
He was arrested based on a complaint by Emil Jafarov, and the trial of another complainant has not yet taken place.
On November 30, the Mi-17 military helicopter of the State Border Service crashed while training flights at the Garaheybat airfield in the Khizi region.
Aydin Mirzazade, a member of parliament from the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, said Ali Aliyev's arrest was not an interference with freedom of expression and had nothing to do with his political activities.
"It is not the arrested party chairman, but Azerbaijani citizen Ali Aliyev. Two other Azerbaijani citizens have filed a lawsuit against him, and it is not a question of which party he is a member of, but a legal dispute between the two citizens," Aydin Mirzazade said.
Mirzazade said the survivors of the helicopter crash had applied to the court to protect their honour and dignity. “He was arrested under the relevant article of the Criminal Code,” Aydin Mirzazade added.
Lawyer Alasgar Mammadli believes that the arrest of Ali Aliyev is a "gross interference" in freedom of expression.
According to him, there are political aspects to the helicopter crash, and therefore the leader of a political party has the right to ask certain questions in any case, to be sceptical, to use methods that encourage in-depth investigation.
"This should not be seen as intrusion into the privacy or insult of the dignity of others. The punishment of Ali Aliyev restricted freedom of expression," Mammadli said.
The EU Delegation to Baku stated that it was monitoring the situation and brought it to the attention of the Azerbaijani authorities.
In a letter to the Committee to Protect the Rights of Ali Aliyev, Richard Tibbets, coordinator of the European Union's Eastern Partnership program, said that Ali Aliyev's arrest was under the control of the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Removal of Articles 147 and 148 of the Criminal Code, which provide for liability for libel and insult, is one of the commitments made by Azerbaijan upon its accession to the Council of Europe but has not yet been implemented.
On the contrary, Azerbaijan added to the Criminal Code in 2013 and recognised slander and insult on the internet as a criminal offense.
Freedom House International classifies Azerbaijan as a non-free country. According to the organisation’s 2021 report, in terms of political rights and civil liberties, Azerbaijan has fallen behind in previous years and has 10 points on a 100-point scale.
