A Baku court hearing into an alleged 1 million manat embezzlement by former Baku City Youth and Sports Department head Ragif Abbasov and ex-finance chief Eldaniz Gulamov stalled after a defence lawyer failed to appear.
The Baku Court on Grave Crimes, presided over by judge Eldar Ismayilov, continued hearing the embezzlement case against Ragif Abbasov and Eldaniz Gulamov. During the session, Gulamov announced he was dropping his lawyer, saying the attorney had failed to properly prepare his defence.
Gulamov said another lawyer he had separately retained knew about the hearing date but also skipped the session, saying he was in the regions.
Judge Ismayilov described the absences as a deliberate attempt to stall proceedings. He noted that the lawyer in question had now missed two hearings and warned that a formal complaint would be filed with the Bar Association if he failed to appear again.
The next hearing has been scheduled for November 25.
The charges
Abbasov and Gulamov are accused of embezzling roughly 1 million manats in state funds. The Prosecutor General’s Office Anti-Corruption Directorate brought the charges, with both men indicted under Article 179.4 of the Criminal Code, which covers embezzlement on a particularly large scale.
Neither defendant is being held in custody; both face restrictive measures not involving detention. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Youth and Sports has been named as the injured party in the criminal case.
