Lawyer sentenced to community service

Alaif Hasanov was the lawyer of, amongst others, Leyla Yunus and Intigam Aliyev. In September 2014, Alaif Hasanov reported on physical pressure committed against his client Leyla Yunus, by her cellmate Ms. N. Huseynova. This report was published in the “Azadlyg” (“Freedom”) newspaper. Hereafter, N. Huseynova sued Alaif Hasanov for referring to her as “a criminal”. It is noteworthy that the administration of the pre-trial detention facility had always strictly prevented the detainees from reading that very opposition newspaper; however, Nuria Huseynova managed not only to read it, but also to promptly file a lawsuit. The lawyer believes that the authorities used Huseynova to deprive him of the opportunity to defend Leyla Yunus. On 6 November 2014, the court sentenced the lawyer to 240 hours of community service.