E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.1 page 11 prosecutor’s office and then released if he signed blank papers. According to his testimony, he was transferred to Shulevan SIzo on 3 March. He was said to have been sent back to Guba region police station to attend his trial which lasted from 3 to 13 May. While he was reportedly not subjected to any further beatings or threats, he did sign other documents out of fear. He reported that he had complained about the torture at his trial. At the time of the interview (15 May), the Special Rapporteur noted what appeared to be a broken bone at the base of the little finger of his right hand, which was allegedly due to the beatings he had been subjected to. He is believed to have received medical treatment only after his transfer to Shuvelan SIzo. It is believed that this treatment was not recorded. 35. By letter dated 15 November 1999, the Special Rapporteur advised the Government that he had received information concerning Elchin Behudov (see E/CN.4/2000/9, para. 43) who had reportedly been arrested in Baku on 21 October 1995 on suspicion of concealing information regarding the murder of a fellow employee of the Presidential Special Department. At the Baku City Police Department (“Gorotdel”), he was allegedly severely beaten in order to extract a confession. By letter dated 18 February 2000, the Government responded that his family had been notified of his arrest and that he had been informed of his right to legal representation which he had declined in writing. It reported that although he did not admit his guilt in the course of the trial, his guilt was proven by statements he had made during preliminary investigation, the testimony of other suspects, as well as forensic and physical examinations. On 4 March 1996, he was given a suspended sentence of two years’ imprisonment by the Supreme Court of the Azerbaijani Republic. 36. The Special Rapporteur met Elchin Behudov who gave further details about his case, including on the treatment to which he had been subjected at the Baku City Police Department. In particular, he denied the information according to which his family had been notified of his arrest and that he had been offered a lawyer. Mr. Behudov informed the Special Rapporteur that on the seventh day of his detention, his wife was simply told by friends to send food to the Baku City Police Department and he was only able to meet his lawyer on 7 January 1996. According to Mr. Behudov, while in detention, an investigator from the prosecutor’s office had informed him that it was not possible to open a case against seven accused police officers despite the fact that he could see the marks of the beatings. Finally, it was reported that all the defendants in the case had been beaten and complained to the judge during the trial. The latter is said to have ignored their complaints which are believed not to have been recorded in the minutes of the trial. 37. The Special Rapporteur also interviewed the two following persons whose testimonies illustrate irregularities with respect to the legal procedure pertaining to arrest and detention. 38. Mamedova Suraija reportedly went on 12 May 2000 to the Nazimi region police station, where she had been asked to go in connection with a counterfeiting affair. There, she was told to sign a blank paper, which she did out of ignorance. She was then asked to go to police unit No. 22 where she was informed that she was under arrest. She was reportedly immediately taken to “Gorotdel”. She believes that her family has not been informed. She was not offered a lawyer and she did not know who authorized her detention.