23:26, 18 March 2019

Azerbaijani website's editor subjected to conditional sentence

Elchin Sadygov, Anar Mamedov's advocate. Photo by the press service of the Amnesty International https://amnesty.org.ru/

In Baku, the court sentenced Anar Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the website "Criminalaz", to 5.5 years of conditional imprisonment. The journalist and his defence insisted on acquittal.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Anar Mamedov was accused of public appeals against the state, abuse of office, and forgery. Witnesses for the prosecution stated that they had been alarmed by the publications. The advocate stated that the testimonies given by the witnesses failed to confirm the journalist's guilt and were contradictory.

Advocate Elchin Sadygov called the sentence identical to the verdict pronounced against Mustafa Gadjibeili, the editor of the website "bastainfo.com".

According to him, "the publications contained no appeals against the state or any appeals and any incitement at all."

The advocate has noted that bringing the journalist to justice for the publications about the assassination attempts against the head of the Ganja city contradicts the freedom of expression.

The journalist himself has assured that he will continue his activities, "based on the principles of democratic journalism and truthful coverage of events."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 18, 2019 at 05:01 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent