Prosecutor Allegedly Threatens Witness in Azer Gasimli Trial

Azer Gasimli

The trial of Azer Gasimli, the head of the Institute of Political Management, continued on October 29 at the Baku Grave Crimes Court.

Samira Gasimli, Azer Gasimli's wife, told Meydan TV that the father of Gurbanali Yusifov, who is listed as a victim in the case, was questioned as a witness.

According to Samira Gasimli, Vidadi Yusifov based his testimony on assumptions that Azer Gasimli was capable of harming him and his son, and not on concrete evidence. When asked if he had personally heard or seen Gasimli threaten his son, Vidadi Yusifov said he feared his house would be burned down. He didn't confirm the prosecution's claim that Azer Gasimli threatened Gurbanali Yusifov with kidnapping his son and killing his father. Vidadi Yusifov stated that he had asked his son what he should say in court.

Ramazan Yusifzade, a cousin of the alleged victim, testified that in March 2023, he was in Antalya on business with Gurbanali Yusifov. He claimed Gurbanali Yusifov received a phone call that changed his mood. However, Ramazan Yusifzade didn't ask what the call was about.

Azer Gasimli was detained on December 8, 2024, and charged with extortion by threat or use of force.

Azer Gasimli maintains that his arrest was politically motivated and the charges are fabricated.

Samira Gasimli stated that the prosecutor began asking Ramazan Yusifzade leading questions. Lawyer Rovshane Rahimli objected, and the judge agreed that the questions were inappropriate.

She also said that despite the prosecutor's attempts, Ramazan Yusifzade said that he was not aware of any threats, but only noticed that his cousin was disturbed.

Samira Gasimli claims the prosecutor openly threatened the witness, stating that if he did not repeat his statement from the preliminary investigation, he would face criminal charges. People in the courtroom protested, with one person reminding the witness of his right to refuse to testify. Only after the prosecutor's threats did Ramazan Yusifzade say that his cousin told him Azer Gasimli had threatened him.

Gasimli questioned Yusifzade about why his statement during the preliminary investigation said the phone call took place in Istanbul, while he stated in court it occurred in Antalya. Gasimli also pointed out that Gurbanali Yusifov testified that he received the call in Baku.

Yusifzade responded that he stood by his statement in court, that he had never been to Istanbul, and that the discrepancy could be a technical error.

A. Gasimli asked V. Yusifov in court when he learned about the alleged threats. He said that his son found out about it when the trial of A. Gasimli in the Mingachevir City Court on the debt case took place, that is, in April 2024. A. Gasimli reminded the court that V. Yusifov, in his statement during the preliminary investigation, said that in October 2022 he had moved his daughter-in-law and granddaughter from Baku to Mingachevir to protect them from danger. The politician said that this exposed V. Yusifov's untruth.

Later, the judge read V. Yusifov's statement during the preliminary investigation and himself told V. Yusifov that you did not say the allegations in this statement that A. Gasimli would kill you here. V. Yusifov replied, yes, maybe I said something like that during the investigation. At this point, people laughed, - said S. Gasimli.

The next hearing is scheduled for November 12.

Samira Gasimli previously told Toplum TV that Gurbanali Yusifov owed Azer Gasimli money but was not threatened to get it back.

In May 2020, Yusifov opened an account on a cryptocurrency website in Azer Gasimli's name at his request and managed it. In May and August of that year, A. Gasimli gave him a total of 20,000 US dollars and asked him to buy two bitcoins. We later found out that he bought one of the bitcoins and did not buy the other. Later, one bitcoin from A. Gasimli's account also disappeared, she noted.

According to S. Gasimli, in January 2022, Yusifov and his wife agreed that his debt would be paid back in monthly payments. However, Yusifov later left the country and stopped communicating with Gasimli. Seeing this, the politician went to court, and in April 2024, the Mingachevir City Court ruled in Gasimli's favor.

After that, Yusifov wrote a letter to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Vilayat Eyvazov, claiming that A. Gasimli was an anti-state politician and wanted to involve Yusifov in anti-state activities, and when he did not agree, he threatened him. After this letter, the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave the case to the Mingachevir City Police Department to check out, but they also closed the case because there was no evidence, S. Gasimli said.

According to him, in December 2024, officials tasked with arresting Gasimli reopened the case.