Editor-in-chief of Azerbaijani website links his summon to prosecutor's office with his prompt arrest

The case of Mustafa Gadjibeili, the editor-in-chief of the oppositional website "Bastainfo.com", accused of anti-state appeals, has been separated into individual proceedings. Mr Gadjibeili believes that his detention is being prepared.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 1, border guards did not allow Mustafa Gadjibeili to fly to Georgia, referring the ban imposed by the on the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) of Azerbaijan. Gadjibeili said that his website was blocked after the publication about the attempted assassination of the head of Ganja, but he was not informed about the ban on leaving the country. On November 30, he was charged with public appeals against the state, abuse of office and forgery. Gadjibeili refused to plead guilty.

On December 5, Gadjibeili was summoned to the Baku City Prosecutor's Office. "I was charged with new content. All the articles remained the same. Simply if earlier under Article 281.2, I was charged with committing crimes together with a 'group of persons', now the wording was changed. I allegedly single-handedly committed these actions 'repeatedly," said Mustafa Gadjibeili.

He has stressed that he would not plead guilty. "It's an absolutely unjustified. We are talking about two publications that we had reprinted from other sources; and there is nothing illegal in these materials – there are no appeals for anything illegal, no insult of anyone's honour and dignity, and no slander. I was told that the investigation about other sources of information was separated into an individual proceeding; and, therefore, they had changed the indictment. This case is an encroachment on the freedom of speech. I get the impression that investigators are just in a hurry to complete the preliminary investigation and send the case to court," said Gadjibeili.

He noted that he does not believe in the justice of Azerbaijani courts. "The probability of my arrest is very high," Mustafa Gadjibeili has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 5, 2018 at 09:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.