Former MES colonel who filmed intimate videos requested early release, but changed his mind

Former Colonel Zaur Mirzoyev, who found himself at the center of a scandal due to intimate video recordings made in his office at the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES), has appealed to the court with a request for parole.

According to Qafqazinfo, Mirzoyev has already served more than half of his 3-year and 3-month prison sentence. In this regard, he asked the court to consider the remaining 8 months of imprisonment as probation.

For this purpose, the colonel filed an application with the Khazar District Court. However, even before the court's decision was announced, Mirzoyev withdrew his application. It is assumed that he took this step due to his intention to make changes to the application or due to non-compliance with other conditions for changing the type of punishment.

Recall that the Baku Court for Serious Crimes found Zaur Mirzoyev guilty of violating the privacy of private life, illegal distribution of pornographic materials, and abuse of official powers. In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Mirzoyev to pay 4,000 manats in compensation to one of the women featured in the scandalous videos.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan partially satisfied Mirzoyev's cassation appeal. The charge of violating the privacy of private life was dropped, and the prison term was reduced from 3 years and 6 months to 3 years and 3 months.

We should add that Z. Mirzoyev was detained on August 17, 2022. By court decision, he was placed under arrest as a preventive measure. He was charged under Articles 156.2.1 (violation of privacy of private life committed by an official using his official position), 242 (illegal distribution of pornographic materials or objects), and 309.2 (abuse of official powers) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

According to the indictment, Z. Mirzoyev installed a hidden camera on his work computer using a special program and recorded video and photos of intimate relations with women in his office. In August 2022, the pornographic materials he illegally prepared were distributed on social networks.