2024-03-02 20:32:04
The trial of five people accused of an armed attempt on the life of Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (Parliament) deputy Fazil Mustafa continues.
As Day.Az reported on Saturday with reference to Trend, defendants Sabuhi Shirinov, Elshad Askerov and Emin Aliyarov testified at a hearing in the Baku Court of Serious Crimes.
The defendants in this case, Azer Saridzhanov and Rashad Akhmedov, testified at previous trials.
Judge Elnur Nuriev, presiding over the trial, was the first to give the floor to Sabukha Shirinov to testify.
It was Shirinov who was charged with shooting at Fazil Mustafa with a machine gun. The accused admits his guilt in committing a crime and does not repent of his crime. Shirinov began his speech by talking about his opinion about Fazil Mustafa.
“Some people ask if there was anyone other than you who would punish him. Fazil Mustafa insulted Imam Hussein and called Shah Ismail Khatai and Muhammad Fizuli ignorant for being Shiites. Moreover, in one of his speeches he said “It’s good that Sultan Selim defeated the Safavids. For these and other reasons, we decided to punish him,” the accused said.
From the investigation materials it follows that S. Shirinov previously served in special forces. He was a scout and sniper. It was for this reason that he was chosen to carry out the assassination attempt. After talking with Elshad Askerov and Azer Saridzhanov, he began to follow Fazil Mustafa.
“I don’t remember exactly, about 3-4 times I followed him. The first time I thought about stabbing him in the side and leaving. But that day there was a child with him. So I didn’t do anything. On the day of the incident, when Fazil Mustafa arrived home, I opened fire from a distance of 25-30 meters and then calmly went home. A few days later, I was detained in the Garadagh region along with Azer,” noted S. Shirinov.
During the interrogation, it turned out that the magazine of the defendant’s machine gun was full. During the incident, 7 bullets were fired from the machine gun.
The question that interested spokesman Fazil Mustafa was how the accused managed to avoid being caught on CCTV cameras at the scene. The accused connected this with the fact that he was an intelligence officer.
Lawyer Elchin Sadigov asked his client if he was aware of the political activities of Fazil Mustafa. Shirinov said that he did not know Fazil Mustafa until the moment he heard his speeches, which he did not like, and did not even know that he was a deputy.
The accused Azer Sarijanov paid Sabuhi Shirinov after the incident.
During the continuation of the trial, the accused Elshad Askerov gave evidence. 40-year-old Askerov worked as a taxi driver before his arrest. According to him, he is a calm, peace-loving person. After Fazil Mustafa’s offensive speeches about religion, he decided to take part in this matter.
“They tell me that I was in Iran 8 times. At that time, I quit my job at the oil company and went there for a new job. They say that I wanted to put an end to the political activities of Fazil Mustafa. I cannot be punished on this charge, but “I agree with the rest of the points. There is a state, a law, and if punishment does not follow, then there will be arbitrariness everywhere,” Askerov said.
The testimony of the accused was read out to the investigation.
Asgarov told the investigator that Sabuhi met Shirinov in a taxi.
“During the conversation, we talked about religious injustice. At that time, Fazil Mustafa came to mind. We discussed his statements. I saw that he was also unhappy. Later, Sabuhi also joined the cause. I located the house of Fazil Mustafa. On the day of the incident, I took Sabuhi to the house and after the shelling of Fazil, he took him home. We met three days later and congratulated each other. According to him, he shot 9 times, which we were very happy about,” Askerov emphasized.
The presiding judge returned to the words of the accused that he is a peace-loving person. He asked him why he did not resolve this issue peacefully. The accused Askerov explained this by saying that Fazil Mustafa was afraid of bullets, not God.
The last person accused in this case is Emin Aliyarov. Aliyarov previously worked in law enforcement agencies with the rank of lieutenant colonel. What connects him to this case is that he is friends with the defendant Azer Saridzhanov, who hid the machine gun used in the crime in his house. According to E. Aliyarov, he did not know that what Sarijanov brought in the package was a machine gun.
“He brought something in a long bag. I didn’t even ask what happened. He asked me to keep it. Azer was worried. I asked the reason, to which he replied that the incident with Fazil was their doing. When The police came to me, I didn’t know what was going on and was shocked that they found a machine gun in my house,” Aliyarov said.
Since all the accused had testified, the judge noted that witnesses would be questioned at the next trial.
Note that the incident occurred in March last year. F. Mustafa was injured as a result of firing from a Kalashnikov assault rifle in front of his house. As a result of operational-search activities carried out jointly by employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Security Service of Azerbaijan, the suspects in the terrorist attack were detained and transferred to the investigation.
The State Security Service (SSS) called the incident a terrorist act. As a result of the investigation conducted by the service, the accused were charged under several articles of the Criminal Code.
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