Mahammad, Sentenced to 10 Years After Exposing Orphanage Video: They Framed and Punished Me for This

Mahammad Hajiyev

Mahammad Hajiyev says he's innocent of the charges against him. After sharing footage on social media exposing mistreatment and theft at Orphanage No. 3, where he lived, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital and later arrested for sexual assault. Hajiyev insists he was set up and punished for going public about the orphanage's illegal actions. He maintained throughout his trial and appeal that he was given a 10-year sentence based on made-up charges.

Hajiyev's lawyer appealed the Baku Grave Crimes Court's decision. The appeal argues that Hajiyev's rights were violated repeatedly during the investigation because he was arrested as a minor. Hajiyev says the state-appointed lawyer didn't defend him properly. He says that even though the case files say he was questioned with a lawyer present, that wasn't true: "The investigator made me sign a statement that he wrote himself."

The other side's view on these claims is unclear. Still, the court decided that his right to defense wasn't violated.

They Wanted Camera Footage

Hajiyev is accused of attacking a younger boy at the orphanage. After being released from the psychiatric hospital, he was sent back to the orphanage. The accusation is that after he returned in August 2024, he committed a crime against 13-year-old S.A.

Hajiyev and his lawyer asked the Baku Grave Crimes Court and the Court of Appeal to present surveillance footage from the orphanage to prove the crime actually happened. According to Hajiyev, there are cameras all over the facility: "There are cameras everywhere in the boarding school. I asked the investigator to get the footage, but he didn't..."

He added that he was in Hovsan when the crime was supposed to have happened. He says he was working at the "Bullur" water company and sleeping in a container at night.

It is Impossible to Provide New Evidence

The deputy director of Orphanage No. 3 said in court that there weren't any surveillance cameras in the children's sleeping areas or bathrooms at the time of the incident. Because of this, they couldn't provide footage from the locations where the assault against S.A. supposedly took place. The deputy director asked that Hajiyev's 10-year prison sentence be upheld.

A representative from the Social Services Agency under the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population talked about the camera footage. He said that when the executive power was in charge of the orphanage, there weren't cameras in the sleeping areas or bathrooms. After the Social Services Agency took over, they put up many cameras: "Since so much time has passed since the incident, it's impossible to provide any evidence."

The alleged assault happened in August 2024. By that time, the orphanages had already been moved from the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection to the Social Services Agency.

According to a Cabinet of Ministers decree from December 12, 2023, family-type small group homes No. 1 and 2 (which used to be under the Ministry of Science and Education) and orphanages under the Baku City Executive Power were moved to the Social Services Agency.

After looking into the matter, the Baku Court of Appeal recently made a decision about Hajiyev's appeal. They decided to keep his sentence the same. The court said Hajiyev confessed to the crime during his testimony and in court when they were deciding whether to detain him. The court stressed that forensic reports and witness statements also backed up the charges against him.

Hajiyev was living at the orphanage because his parents had passed away. His stepbrother placed him there.

Mahammad Hajiyev, born in 2006, shared a video message on social media in April 2023 about the conditions at Orphanage No. 3. He said that the managers and other staff members would take the best meat home, while the kids were given fat and bones: "The children aren't filled from just bread. They stare at other kids' food at school. They're forced to ask for food from children who have homes. They cook the bony, fatty parts of the meat and take the meaty parts. They take the milk and apples, leaving the spoiled ones for us."

After these posts, Hajiyev was sent to the Republican Psychiatric Hospital in Mashtaga. Agahasan Rasulov, who was the hospital's head doctor at the time, told local media that the teenager wasn't mentally ill and didn't need to be in the hospital: "He has some psychological issues, but they're very minor. Half of Baku has those issues. Does half the population need to come sleep in our hospital?! His problem is very mild; he shouldn't be staying with us. They sent him from the orphanage, and we're sending him back. The orphanage management won't take him back."

Soon after this statement, Rasulov was fired from his job, with age given as the reason.