Witnesses give mixed testimony during second day of trial

Several witnesses for the prosecution gave vague testimony yesterday at alumnus Adnan Hajizada and fellow activist Emin Milli's hooliganism trial in Azerbaijan.

Unlike the first day of the trial on Sept. 16, spectators and journalists were allowed into the courtroom.

One of the men who said Hajizada and Milli attacked them, Babek Huseynov, said he had spent time in the hospital after the fight on July 8, but did not remember what he was treated for, according to the Turan Information Agency.

Huseynov also said that he was a wrestler in high school and trained for a time in martial arts, according to news reports.

After Huseynov made that statement, Milli asked how it was possible that he and Hajizada could overpower trained athletes. Huseynov did not give an answer, according to EurasiaNet.org. In Azerbaijan, defense attorneys, attorneys for the prosecution and defendants can ask questions of witnesses at any point during their testimony.

Huseynov and Vusal Mammadov, the other man who said the bloggers had attacked him, said the fight had begun after they approached Hajizada and Milli when their language offended some women in the restaurant. But a waitress at the restaurant where the fight occurred testified that she did not hear Hajizada and Milli use any foul language.

The owner of the restaurant where the fight occurred, the owner's father and other witnesses who were at the restaurant testified that they did not see who started the fight. There were also different accounts of where Hajizada and Milli were when the police arrived.

Several supporters who had gathered outside the courthouse cheered "Emin!" and "Adnan!" as the defendants left the courthouse.

A date has not been set for the next hearing, but should take place within the next few weeks, according to EurasiaNet.org.

Contact staff writer Stephanie Rice at stephanie.rice@richmond.edu