Supreme Court overturns blackmail conviction of businessman's ex-wife

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Azerbaijan has quashed the conviction of Gulshan Allahverdiyeva, who was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison for blackmailing her former husband, businessman Fuad Allahverdiyev.

The court granted her cassation appeal, Qafqazinfo reported.

After studying the case file, the judges concluded that the earlier proceedings had been conducted improperly and that the verdict contradicted the facts of the case. Other legal violations were also committed during the previous hearings.

On those grounds the Supreme Court annulled the earlier rulings and sent the criminal case back to the Baku Court of Appeal for a fresh hearing.

The dispute began with a complaint by Gulshan Allahverdiyeva, on which Fuad Allahverdiyev was arrested. He was charged with torturing his wife during the marriage and with acts of a sexual nature. The court acquitted him on the sexual violence charge and sentenced him to restriction of liberty, with an electronic bracelet, for the torture it found proven.

The investigation then turned the other way, and Gulshan Allahverdiyeva went from victim to defendant. She was found guilty of unlawfully obtaining personal photographs and video materials of her former husband, using them for personal gain and extorting property on an especially large scale through threats. The Baku Court on Grave Crimes sentenced her to 10 and a half years in prison, and the appeal court upheld that sentence.

Fuad Allahverdiyev is a prominent figure in the country's business community. He previously chaired the board of directors of the telecommunications operator AzerTelecom and was a founder of the companies Aila TV and Caspian Telecom LLC.