Iran requests access to detained national in Baku

The Iranian consul in the Republic of Azerbaijan has called on Baku officials to allow Iran’s Embassy to send a representative to an appeals court session for an Iranian national sentenced to imprisonment on charges of spying.

“Under international law, the embassy’s representative should be allowed to visit the accused before a verdict is issued,” Mohsen Molaei said on Wednesday.

Molaei added that Azeri officials have not yet granted the embassy’s request despite numerous notes sent by Iran’s diplomatic mission in Baku, the Azeri capital.

The Iranian official said Bahram Feyzi’s appeal court is due to be held later on Wednesday.

Molaei noted that Feyzi should be visited by the embassy’s physician as he has gone on hunger strike to protest the ruling and is not in a good condition.

The Baku Court on Grave Crimes sentenced Feyzi to 15 years in prison on charges of espionage on October 11.

Iran’s Embassy in Baku on October 12 dismissed the ruling, expressing hope that the appeals court would overturn the verdict.

“The Baku Court on Grave Crimes should address such cases in the presence of an authorized lawyer and the representative of the Iranian Embassy,” said Seyyed Mohammad Ayatollahi, an official with the embassy.

Earlier in November, Azeri officials released Iranian national Hassan Faraji who had been arrested on similar charges.