Protest by the Prosecutor General’s Office: the case of the head of the company released in the courtroom will be reviewed
A number of media and social networks reported that Asker Bayramov, the founder and director of Asr Travel LLC, was released from custody in the courtroom by the decision of the Yasamal district court, oxu.az reports citing the press service of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
A.Bayramov is accused of abuse of official powers, which entailed grave consequences, and causing significant damage. Together with his accomplices, he produced and sold fake certificates of a negative test for coronavirus to citizens (101 people) who bought tickets for the Ganja-St. Petersburg flight of Ural Airlines.
The criminal case was initiated in the Main Department for Combating Corruption under the Prosecutor General under Articles 308.2 (abuse of power), 320.1 and 320.2 (forgery of official documents, state awards, seals, stamps, letterheads or use of forged documents) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan and sent to the Yasamal district court for consideration.
On November 23, 2021, the court found A. Bayramov guilty under Articles 308.1, 320.1 and 320.2 and sentenced him to corrective labor. Also, the measure of restraint in the form of arrest, chosen in relation to him, was canceled, and the convict was released in the courtroom.
The public prosecutor filed a protest, which was considered by the Baku Court of Appeal and by a decision of January 21, 2022, the verdict of the court of first instance was upheld.
The prosecutor filed a cassation protest on the grounds that, when making a final decision, the criminal board of the Baku Court of Appeal did not evaluate the evidence collected in the criminal case in the aggregate, did not examine them in accordance with the requirements of the criminal procedure legislation, as a result of which they made a mistake in describing the act of A. Bayramov. The prosecution also believes that the convict was sentenced to a clearly unfair punishment, not commensurate with the gravity of the crime committed by him.
Other defendants in the criminal case – Ilham Khydyrov and Nazim Mustafayev, accused under Article 178.3.2 (fraud committed with causing major damage) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, were sentenced by the decision of the Baku Grave Crimes Court dated February 19, 2019 to imprisonment, but were acquitted by the verdict of the Criminal Collegium of the Baku Court of Appeal dated December 14, 2021. The public prosecutor also challenged the latest verdict, citing the lack of impartiality of the judges of the appellate court in making the decision.
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