In Baku, at trial on case against journalist Avaz Zeinalov, court dismisses all defence motions

Today, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, chaired by Judge Ramella Allakhverdieva, continued court hearings on the criminal case against Avaz Zeinalov, Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper "Khural". The Judge dismissed all defence motions, including motions on audio recording of the court session and on release of Avaz Zeinalov from custody.

Today, because of the lack of space, only limited number of journalists managed to enter the courtroom. Meanwhile, court controllers forced all persons, who entered the courtroom, to leave recording and photographing devices voice recorders, photo and video cameras and even mobile phones.

Rashid Gadjily, Director of the Media Rights Institute (MRI), one of the lawyers of Avaz Zeinalov, treated that fact as violation of the law. According to him, only the Judge may decide to ban photographing and recording.

He regretted that at the very trial, the Judge rejected all defence motions. "Such 'undivided opinion' of the Judge, who dismisses all the motions without any justification of her decisions, represents one more indication of ordered nature of the criminal case," said Rashid Gadjily.

The court hearings lasted less than 1.5 hours, and the next court session was appointed for 3:00 p.m. on June 6.

Intigam Aliev, the leader of the Legal Education Society, who watched the trial, called judicial proceedings against Avaz Zeinalov "politicized show". According to him, the authorities want to impose their will on civil society.

"The court ignores grounded arguments of the defence. Thus, it is clear that the complaints on behalf of three other plaintiffs, apart from the MP Gyulyar Akhmedova, were printed, using the same font and the same computer. Other evidences against the editor were also fabricated for the sake of political power," said Intigam Aliev.

According to Mekhman Aliev, Director of the "Turan" News Agency, "article" on tax evasion "was used, since accusation of bribery had completely collapsed."

According to the Director of the "Turan" News Agency, the trial is being conducted without recording of the court hearings to hide violations, committed by investigators, and inconsistency of the charges.

Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), also believes that Avaz Zeinalov is being persecuted for political reasons and that, starting from the moment of the editor's detention, the investigation is being carried out with numerous procedural violations.

Besides, at present, Avaz Zeinalov is actually being unlawfully kept in custody, since even extended term of the editor's detention as a pre-trial restriction measure has expired a month ago, Emin Guseinov has noted.