Editor of "Real Azerbaijan" condemned to 2.5 years of imprisonment

On April 20, the trial of Einullah Fatullaev, editor-in-chief of newspapers "Real Azerbaijan" and "Gyundelik Azerbaijan," was over in Baku. The court sentenced the journalist to 2.5 years of custody. Mr. Fatullaev, accused of insulting the honour of former Khodzhaly village residents, was arrested directly in the courtroom, the Day.Аz reports.

In his speech, Einullah Fatullaev characterized the trial to be a customized one.

Fatullaev's advocate is going to lodge a complaint on the decision of the Yasamal District Court, the IA "Novosti-Azerbaijan" reports.

"This verdict is illegal, unjustified and unfair, and we are going to appeal against it," Isakhan Ashurov, Fatullaev's advocate, has stated, having added that the verdict is also an encroachment on the freedom of speech in Azerbaijan.

The situation around the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspapers became aggravated after one of Armenian deputies had stated in Strasbourg that the Hodzhaly tragedy was a result of political struggle in Azerbaijan. He referred to Fatullaev's opinion and quoted his words from the Internet-forum that Azerbaijanis' bodies in Hodzhaly had been desecrated by other Azerbaijanis. Having heard this, deputies from Azerbaijan got indignant and made a refutation. After that, a campaign against Einullah Fatullaev was launched by a number of official and pro-governmental media of Azerbaijan.