Azerbaijani National Sentenced in Cyprus After Terrorism Charges Dropped

NICOSIA, CYPRUS — A Cypriot court gave Azerbaijani citizen Orkhan Asadov a six and a half year prison sentence for conspiracy and illegal gun possession. The ruling, made on November 21, considered the time Asadov already spent in jail after his arrest.

Asadov, who also reportedly has a Russian passport, was taken into custody in Nicosia in late 2021. He was caught with a pistol, bullets, and a silencer after crossing from the Turkish-controlled area in the north.

The original terrorism charges against Asadov were dropped by prosecutors. These charges claimed he was targeting five Israeli citizens or business people.

Kostis Efstathiou, Asadov's lawyer, told Reuters that the prosecution dropped the terrorism part of the case during the trial and plea talks, which were held behind closed doors. "We convinced the court that ethnicity wasn't part of this case," Efstathiou said. "It wasn't connected to terrorism."

Even though the court's decision didn't mention terrorism, the case got a lot of international attention at first because of accusations from top officials. After Asadov's arrest, Israeli officials such as then-Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and a spokesperson for then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was a terrorist incident led by Iran against Israeli businesses in Cyprus. They suggested that Israeli intelligence agencies like Mossad and Shin Bet were involved.

The Iranian Embassy in Cyprus denied these claims to Reuters, stating that Israel often makes baseless claims against Iran. Reuters noted that official documents against Asadov never linked him to Iran.

This judgment comes at a time when people are especially worried about global security, especially attacks on Jewish people. increased in antisemitic incidents in the United States. Also, a conference for European Rabbis planned for October in Baku, Azerbaijan, was canceled because of safety concerns.