Azerbaijani journalist Nureddin Ismailov convicted conditionally

A court in Baku has sentenced Nureddin Ismailov, the editor-in-chief of the website "Teref.az", to 5.5 years of conditional imprisonment within the case of anti-state appeals. His defence intends to appeal against the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ismailov was accused of anti-state appeals after reposting the articles criticizing the "Azerenergy" bosses for the July blackout.

On March 28, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes found Nureddin Ismailov guilty and sentenced him to 5.5 years of conditional imprisonment with a two-year probation period. "Besides, the court forbade me to occupy positions in state and municipal bodies of power for two years," Ismailov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The journalist treats the verdict as unfair and intends to appeal against it.

"First of all, these were reposts; and, secondly, there are no anti-state appeals in these publications. I will go through all the instances in Azerbaijan to achieve acquittal; and if I fail there, I'll complain to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)," Mr Ismailov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 29, 2019 at 03:49 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.