Court hearing over persons accused in accident involving Austrian athletes

Baku Court on Grave Crimes continued on 22 April, 2016  the hearing on the case of those accused of the bus accident involving Austrian athletes in Baku 2015, APA reports.

A public prosecutor read out the indictment during the hearing.  

Vali Ahmadov pleaded guilty, Huseyn Salamov, Farid Amiraslanov pleaded not guilty, and Elchin Hasanov pleaded partially guilty.  

Later on, Vali Ahmadov testified in the court. “The bus braking system was faulty during the incident. I got bored and my eyes darkened. I just lost myself. I didn’t know where the bus was going. I regret for the incident,” he noted.

Huseyn Salamov, in turn, said that he had no role in the accident and he fulfilled his duties.  

The hearing will continue on April 29, 2016.

A letter from the Prosecutor General’s Office was read out at the hearing held on January 15.

According to the letter, the aggrieved persons were informed that the investigation launched by the Austrian Embassy and the European Committee ended, and the case was sent to court.  Vali Ahmadov’s lawyer petitioned that the aggrieved persons hadn’t testified on the indictment. He asked the court to return the case to the preliminary investigation. The court his petition, terminated the case and returned it to the preliminary investigation.

On 11 June 2015, the Austrian synchronized swimmers – Vanessa Sahinovic and Luna Pajer got in a traffic accident on the territory of the transport depot in the Athletes’ Village in Baku. Vali Ahmadov, whose shuttle bus struck the Austrian athletes in Baku, the deputy head of the State Road Traffic Service Huseyn Salamov and camera operator of “Safe City Service” Elchin Hasanov were detained over the accident.

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