MP Fazil Mustafa said that more than 50% of the cases considered in the courts are related to drugs.
Fakt Yoxla checked whether this claim was true.
In order to verify the claim, purely criminal cases considered in the courts of first instance in the last five years and in the first half of this year were examined.
Among the total criminal cases, drug-related criminal cases have never exceeded 50% in the last five years, including the first half of this year. The highest limit of this indicator was 46.9%. However, with the exception of the first half of this year, the weight of drug-related criminal cases among the criminal cases considered in the courts in the last five years has increased compared to every previous year. So, while this indicator was 19.8% in 2018, in 2022, it increased almost 2.4 times to 46.9%.
For information, let's note that Chapter 26 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan deals with drug-related crimes. According to Article 234.1, illegal acquisition, storage, preparation, processing, transportation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances in large amounts for personal consumption without the purpose of sale shall be punished by restriction of liberty for a period of one to three years or deprivation of liberty for a period of up to three years. If the acts provided for in this article are committed in gross amounts, they shall be punished by deprivation of liberty for a term of three to eight years.
It is necessary to pay special attention to the expressions "in large amounts for personal consumption" and "in gross amounts" contained here. So, these quantities are taken into account when bringing a person to criminal responsibility related to drugs.
In 2005, the list of the amount of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances sufficient to bring a person to criminal responsibility was approved by the President of Azerbaijan. According to that list, for example, methamphetamine and heroin exceed 0.15 grams, they are considered large amounts for personal consumption, and if they exceed 2 grams, they are considered gross amounts. Furthermore, if opium is more than 0.5 grams and hashish is more than 1 gram, they are considered large amounts for personal consumption, and if the first one is more than 50 grams and the second one is more than 100 grams, respectively, they are considered gross amounts.
According to the information obtained by RFE/RL, the vast majority of those currently in prison are those charged with criminal responsibility for acquiring and possessing heroin and methamphetamine. "As a result, penitentiaries are full of people who are serving sentences with this article. The judges themselves suggested that the weight be changed," the report said. Although the Milli Majlis presented a draft law on amending these lists on October 6, 2023, the above quantities are valid as these amendments have not yet been approved in the law. It should be noted that in that draft law three quantities of narcotics and psychotropic substances, which are grounds for bringing a person to criminal responsibility, were defined - large, gross, and especially gross. Also, a number of changes have been made in these amounts.
Thus, although more than 50% of the cases considered in courts in Azerbaijan are not related to drugs, this indicator has increased 2.4 times in the last five years.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that the MP’s claim is Half True.
