A court in Baku has acquitted a driver involved in a fatal traffic accident near the Ayna Sultanova monument – a case that had drawn significant public attention.
According to Oxu.Az, the Binagadi District Court, chaired by Judge Aynura Sadigova, issued the verdict after concluding that the defendant, Javid Askerov, bore no criminal responsibility for the incident.
The court found that the pedestrian was crossing the road at an undesignated location and suddenly ran onto the roadway from behind another vehicle, giving Askerov no opportunity to avoid the collision. Based on the collected evidence, the court ruled that the driver was not at fault.
Askerov (born in 2000) was driving a Mercedes-Benz C250, license plate 99-GC-949, along Ataturk Avenue toward the “Ganjlik” metro station when he struck pedestrian Mukhammed Babashov. The victim sustained severe injuries and later died in hospital despite emergency medical care.
Askerov had initially been charged under Article 263.2 of Azerbaijan’s Criminal Code (violation of traffic rules resulting in death by negligence), but the court determined that the circumstances did not support the accusation.
