17:30, 29 December 2018

Baku court refuses to close journalist Anar Mamedov's case for criticizing government

The defence of Anar Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the "criminalaz.com", accused of voicing calls against the state, has requested the court to close the case. However, the court dismissed the defence motion.

At night on July 3, after an accident at a power station in Mingachevir, the power supply to Baku and other regions of Azerbaijan was cut off. On the same day, there was an assassination attempt on Elmar Veliev, the head of Ganja. A criminal case was instituted in connection with the publication of allegedly "false information" about the above events on the websites "bastainfo.com" and "criminalaz.com".

"The accusations are completely unfounded. Everything that was posted on the website fully complies within the freedom of expression guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. The role of the media is to highlight the resonant events and report a story of their reasons," notes Elchin Sadygov, a journalist's advocate.

It should be noted that the journalist faces up to 12 years of imprisonment.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 29, 2018 at 02:08 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent