Azerbaijan: at trial in case against editor-in-chief of newspaper "Khural", complainant evidences contradictorily

On October 2, at the trial on the case against Avaz Zeinalov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural", the Baku Court of Grave Crimes listened to the testimonies of Sabir Tariverdiev, one of the complainants against the defendant, the head of the automotive market in Sumgait, Chairman of the National Statehood Party, and his press secretary Gusein Avazoglu.

Let us remind you that Avaz Zeinalov was arrested on October 28, 2011, on suspicion of taking a large-scale bribe. MP Gyular Akhmedova filed a complaint against his actions. The Anti-Corruption Department received complaints on bribing the journalist from three other persons, including Sabir Tariverdiev. Besides, Avaz Zeinalov was charged of failure to execute the judgments and tax evasion. On May 18, the consideration of the case on merits was started.

At the court hearings, held on October 2, Sabir Tariverdiev stated he did not bribe Avaz Zeinalov, but he simply "asked him like his countryman not to write negative things about respectable people", and, in particular, about Elmar Veliev, ex-Chief Executive of the Evlakh District. At present, Elmar Veliev is Chief Executive of the city of Gandzha.

Meanwhile, Sabir Tariverdiev has noted that he is not personally acquainted with Elmar Veliev.

"I was called by people from the city of Evlakh on his behalf, and they said that Avaz Zeinalov could take their money and stop writing about Elmar Valiev or, otherwise, he would be in trouble. I told those people that no money was needed and that I would resolve the problem by myself," Sabir Tariverdiev said.

Meanwhile, according to the materials of the criminal case, during the preliminary investigation at the Anti-Corruption Department under the General Prosecutor, Sabit Tariverdiev gave different testimony. In particular, he said that he gave Avaz Zeinalov 2500 manats (more than 3000 US dollars) on behalf of Elmar Veliev, ex-Chief Executive of the Evlakh District to stop publishing negative articles about him in the newspaper "Khural".

In connection with that, Ramadan Khadyev, the public prosecutor, asked Sabir Tariverdiev "to clarify" his testimony.

The defence treated that as pressure of the public prosecutor to the witness.

However, Judge Ramella Allakhverkhdieva did not respond to the comments of lawyers Elchin Sadygov and Yalchin Imanov on "violation of procedural rules, committed by the public prosecutor."

After that, Sabir Tariverdiev changed his testimony several times, and he stated that he had asked Avaz Zeinalov to stop writing about Elmar Veliev and promised to give him money for that.

Gusein Avazoglu, another witness, the press secretary of Sabir Tariverdiev, began to claim that he was present during the conversation between Avaz Zeinalov and Sabir Tariverdiev and that the latter gave him 2000 manats (more than 2400 US dollars) for the purchase of a computer set.

Avaz Zeinalov refuted the statements of both Sabir Tariverdiev and Gusein Avazoglu and said that he did not take any money and did not discuss the subject with them. According to the defendant, the testimonies of the complainant and his witness cannot be treated as evidence, since they are biased. Meanwhile, Avaz Zeinalov said that he wrote in his newspaper about evasion of the Sumgait automotive market from taxes, and Sabit Tariverdiev and his press secretary wanted to "take vengeance" on him.

Besides, Avaz Zeinalov has emphasized that yet on October 8, 2011, the National Statehood Party issued the statement, in which it applauded the confiscation of the property of the newspaper "Khural" and the ban on its publication.

"Meanwhile, the confiscation was held on October 19, and printing houses refused to print the newspaper two days later. That means those measures were prepared in advance, and the party made a hasty step by publishing the premature statement. This is further evidence of the ordered nature of the criminal case against me, which was initiated by Ramiz Mekhtiev, the head of the presidential administration," Avaz Zeinalov said.

Sabir Tariverdiev and Gusein Avazoglu could not respond to the allegation, since at that time they were no longer in the courtroom.

The next court hearing on the case will be held today, at 03:00 p.m.

It should be noted that the local and international human rights organizations have repeatedly issued the statements, calling on the Azerbaijani authorities to stop the criminal proceedings against Avaz Zeinalov and stating that the journalist was prosecuted for his publications.