Closing arguments of the sides into the case of spraying graffiti on the monument to previous Azerbaijan president Heydar Aliyev were presented at the Baku Court of Appeal.

Attorney Elchin Sadigov motioned the court to acquit activist Giyas Ibrahimov stressing that several articles were grossly violated against his client, reported contact.az news agency of Azerbaijan. 

The appellate court, however, upheld the judgment against Ibrahimov.  

The activist, in turn, called the presiding judge a “puppet.” 

The defense plans to appeal this verdict.

Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov were sentenced to ten years in prison, on charges of drug trafficking. 

But the real reason behind their being sentenced was the political slogans that were sprayed on the Heydar Aliyev monument in downtown capital city Baku, in May 2016.

Amnesty International has called them prisoners of conscience.