At trial in the case of the Lyceum "Caspian"

Baku /21.10.19 / Turan: On Monday, the Baku Serious Crimes Court considered the case of the appropriation of 564 thousand manats at the "Caspian" Lyceum.

The accused in the case are two accountants of the lyceum - Tural Mammadov and Faraim Mohbalyev. They were arrested based on a complaint by the founder of the Lyceum, Sona Velieva, the wife of Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Ali Hasanov, and charged under the Article 179.4 of the Criminal Code (large assignment).

Throughout the trial, the defendants insisted on summoning Sona Velieva to court, but this was not done. When the judge announced the completion of the trial, both defendants went on hunger strike in protest of the biased trial.

On October 18, the prosecutor asked the court to sentence Mammadov and Mohbalyev to 6 years in prison.

At today's meeting, the representative of the Lyceum did not agree with the statement of the prosecutor. According to him, the guilt of the defendants has been proven and it is impossible to apply articles 60 and 70 of the Criminal Code to them, stipulating conditional punishment.

However, Mohbaliyev"s lawyer Adem Mammadov said the defendant was not guilty. According to him, no reliable evidence was presented in court. Mohbalyev did not sign any documents, and the chief accountant Tural Mammadov personally transferred the money received from his parents to the founder of the lyceum, Sonya Velieva. At the same time, the lawyer pointed out that the book of settlements between Velieva and Mammadov was not investigated by the court.

"My client was the victim of a conflict between two close relatives - Sona Velieva and Tural Mammadov," the lawyer said. He pointed out the confusion in the financial affairs of the Lyceum, there was not even an official cashier, and Velieva herself performed this function.

The lawyer asked to justify Mohbalyev, who also pleaded not guilty and asked for excuses for himself and Mammadov.

The second accountant said that he had used part of the alleged amount for his business and had already returned a certain part of the money. "I promised and was ready to return the rest of the amount. However, Sona Velieva deceived me, promising not to complain to the police if I confess that I used the entire amount for myself," Mammadov said, adding that Mohbalyev had nothing to do with it. The verdict is expected on October 22. - 06D--