Appeal Court Upholds Sentence Against Abzas Media Journalists

The Baku Court of Appeal heard the appeal against the sentence of journalists arrested in the "Abzas Media case".

As "Kavkazsky Uzel wrote, on June 20, a court in Baku sentenced journalists and employees of the Azerbaijani online publication Abzas Media to lengthy prison terms on charges of economic crimes. The publication's director Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, economist Farid Mehralizade received 9 years in prison, Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova - 8 years, and Mohammed Kekalov - 7.5 years.

Judge Hakim Zafar Akhmedov announced the decision: the court did not satisfy the appeal, the judge upheld the decision of the Baku District Court, MeydanTV reports.

In the courtroom, AbzasMedia journalists shouted: "The ban on AbzasMedia's activities is illegal," "Journalism is not a crime," "Corruption in the family," and "Ilham Aliyev, declare your income." The court staff snatched the posters from them and tore them down, the publication specified.

Earlier, "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote that on August 26, at the Baku Court of Appeal in the Abzas Media case, the convicted editor-in-chief of the publication Sevinj Vagifgizi challenged the composition of the court, and she was supported by other defendants in the case. In particular, Vagifgizi questioned the objectivity of the presiding judge Zaur Akhmedov.