08:45, 5 July 2019

Advocate reports threats received because he defends Azerbaijani journalist

Elchin Sadygov, a lawyer. Photo by the press service of Amnesty International https://amnesty.org.ru/

Elchin Sadygov, an Azerbaijani lawyer, who is defending the journalist, Polad Aslanov, accused of treason, says that that he has received threats. He treats them as pressure related to his professional activities, indicating the plight of advocacy and journalism in Azerbaijan, the NGO activists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe.

Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of the Internet editions "Xeberman.com" and "Press-az.com", was detained on June 12, 2019, on suspicion of espionage. On June 14, a Baku court arrested him for four months.

According to the Azerbaijani State Security Service (SSS), Aslanov "secretly met agents of foreign intelligence services." His wife has linked his detention with Polad's professional activities.

"I was warned not to defend Polad Aslanov," Mr Sadygov wrote on his Facebook.

"It all shows in what hard situation the Azerbaijani advocacy, journalism and the media freedom are," said Khalid Agaliev, a lawyer at the Media Law Institute.

Gyulmira Aslanova, Polad's wife fears for the fate of her husband.

"We have no doubt that Polad is being persecuted for covering up the facts of extortion used by heads of travel agencies for organizing pilgrimages," she said.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 4, 2019 at 11:01 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent