protest – The Quai d’Orsay, which denounces this conviction, advises French nationals not to travel to Azerbaijan, pointing out “a risk of arrest, arbitrary detention and unfair trial”
France protested on Thursday against the three-year prison sentence of one of its nationals by an Azerbaijani court “for graffiti in the metro”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced in a press release “arbitrary and openly discriminatory treatment”.
“Theo Clerc was sentenced on September 10 by an Azerbaijani court to three years in prison for graffiti in the metro, while his two co-defendants, for exactly the same acts, holders of another nationality, were sentenced to a simple fine,” the ministry spokesperson lamented. The Azerbaijani authorities had not reacted to these accusations as of Thursday afternoon.
His lawyer will appeal
“The verdict handed down by the court is illegitimate and excessively harsh, particularly against the French citizen, and will be appealed,” said their lawyer Elchin Sadigov, speaking in Russian. Theo Clerc, New Zealander Ismael De-Saint Quentin and Australian Paul Han, who were arrested in March, were found guilty of group hooliganism and intentional damage to property resulting in serious consequences, a(…) - 20minutes
