Malik Rzayev - member of the Musavat Party Date of arrest: 25 October 2021 102 Charge: Article 234.4.3 (Illegal manufacturing, purchase, storage, transportation, transfer or selling of narcotics, psychotropic substances committed in large amount) of the Criminal Code of the Azerbaijan Republic Sentence: On 28 September 2022, the Sumqayit City Court for Serious Crimes sentenced to 7 years in prison Conclusion: Malik Rzayev, a member of the Musavat Party, had lived in Germany the past several years. He participated in the rallies concerning the protection of the political prisoners’ rights in Azerbaijan. On 1 June 2021, M. Rzayev was deported from Germany to Azerbaijan. On 25 October 2021, he was arrested in the Taqiyev settlement of Sumqayit. Lawyer Neimat Karimli declared a violation of the procedural Code and considers the arrest politically motivated: "From the beginning the investigation was conducted with violations. After the arrest, Rzayev was not allowed to call relatives and invite his lawyer. The state lawyer did not even write an appeal against the arrest. Unfortunately, I was involved to the defense late and the deadline for the arrest appeal has been missed. We will file a motion to change the preventive measure to house arrest. I have already written a complaint to the Sumgait City Prosecutor's Office in connection with Rzayev's statement about torture.” According to Karimli, Rzayev told him about torture: "Malik Rzayev was brutally beaten up, his legs were parted into splits; they threatened to rape him with a foreign object. Under such pressure, he was forced to testify about the allegedly found drugs on him," the advocate has stated. Rzayev denied the accusation. He was arrested almost simultaneously with activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan Muallim Orujev, who was also deported from Germany last summer. According to human rights activists, in Germany both participated in actions in defense of political prisoners in Azerbaijan.