Case against Azerbaijani activist Vafa Nagi closed

The Neftchala District Court has terminated the criminal case initiated against Vafa Nagi, without explaining the reasons for such a decision, the activist herself has stated. She suggested that this was due to her exclusion from the municipal board.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that an official and an employee of the rural house of culture had filed a lawsuit against Vafa Nagi, demanding to bring her to criminal responsibility on charges of defamation. They claimed that Nagi's Facebook posts had damaged their business reputation. Vafa Nagi herself has linked the lawsuit against her with her "corruption exposure" activities.

On September 3, Vafa Nagi was called from the Neftchala District Court and informed that her criminal case had been stopped, Ms Nagi told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "I was not told on what grounds it was dropped," she has added.

She has supposed that the judge understood all the absurdity of the claimants' demands, and that this case will "cause a great resonance." Besides, her exclusion from the municipal board removed the need for her criminal prosecution.

"After all, all this was launched in order to interfere with my work as a member of the municipal board, and to silence me. And now, after they removed me from the municipal board, I will no longer be able to demand from them financial reporting and generally accountability to the population. But they are wrong – I will continue struggling for my rights and interests of my voters," Vafa Nagi has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 4, 2020 at 10:19 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.