Baku Court of Grave Crimes on Monday continued the hearing on the criminal case involving Leyla Yunus, Azerbaijan’s prominent human rights defender and imprisoned Founder and Director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy, and her likewise-imprisoned husband Arif Yunus, who are charged with large-scale fraud. 

According to local media, limited number of observers were allowed inside the courtroom, albeit there were empty seats inside. The human rights activists considered this a breach of the principle of openness in court, reported the BBC Russian Service.

The court overruled the motion for commuting the  defendants’ current restraining order of imprisonment.

According to the investigation hypothesis, Leyla Yunus had “received grants from international organizations, and under the name of implementing joint projects with an Armenian center.” Subsequently, and through her husband, Yunus had supposedly used these funds to “improve the financial condition of those whom she tried to recruit for espionage activities.” Leyla Yunus, however, refutes these charges.

The Yunus couple is accused of high treason, too, but this case has been separated.

Leyla and Arif Yunus face up to 21 years in prison, and pursuant to the economic charges alone.