PACE welcomes decision to release Tofig Yagublu under house arrest

Rapporteurs from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have welcomed the decision of the Baku Appeals Court to release jailed  Tofig Yagublu into house arrest. Besides, he awaits a September 28, 2020 hearing in his case.

"The conversion of his detention into house arrest is a welcome first step," said PACE's monitoring co-rapporteurs for Azerbaijan, Sir Roger Gale (the United Kingdom, EC/DA) and Stefan Schennach (Austria, SOC)

"This gives us hope that the Azerbaijani authorities will review his case in line with Council of Europe standards for a fair trial. We are also relieved that Mr. Yagublu has decided to end his hunger strike," they concluded.
The Nizami District Court of Baku sentenced T. Yagublu to 4 years and three months in prison.

According to the indictment, on March 22, Yagublu got out of his car, insulted and hit the driver of another vehicle and his wife. Then he injured the driver with a screwdriver.

Tofig Yagublu himself did not admit the charges against him and went on a hunger strike that lasted 17 days. On September 12, he was transferred from the pre-trial detention center to City Hospital.

On September 18, after the Baku court's decision of the appeal, the hunger strike was stopped.