Baku court refuses to transfer Fatima Movlamli to house arrest

The Baku Court of Appeal refused to soften the preventive measure for journalist Fatima Movlamli, arrested in the Meydan TV case, despite the completion of the investigation.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, journalist Fatima Movlamli has been under arrest in the Meydan TV case since March 1. Ten other people were involved in the case with her: Meydan TV journalists Aynur Elgunesh, Nurlan Gahramanli (Libre) and Aytaj Akhmedova (Tapdyg), Ramin Deko (Jabrailzade), Aysel Umudova, Khayala Agayeva, Natig Javadli, editor-in-chief of the argument.az website Shamshad Aga (Agayev), Voice of America journalist Ulviya Ali (Guliyeva), as well as civil activist Ulvi Tahirov. In June, the defendants' pretrial detention was extended by three months. In late August, it became known that the investigation had been completed, and a 12th suspect, photojournalist Ahmed Mukhtar, had appeared in the Meydan TV case.

The Baku Court of Appeal reviewed the complaint about replacing Movlamli's preventive measure in the form of arrest with house arrest in a closed session; the judge rejected the defense's motion, Meydan TV reported on September 10.

Fatima Movlamli's mother is outraged that the arrested journalists have been charged under eight criminal articles. She noted that Fatima Movlamli was not a full-time employee of Meydan TV, but only provided the publication with her materials.

“Fatima says she knew she would be arrested. They arrested our children unfairly. Our children are our pride, we are proud of them,” said the journalist’s mother, Vusala Movlanova.

The arrested journalists do not admit their guilt and claim that they are being persecuted for criticizing the authorities. On August 15, the defendants in the Meydan TV case issued a statement that “the authorities are preparing for a new falsification.” “We appeal to the authorities: if your expectations have failed, do not compensate for this with another falsification. There is no criminal element in our actions. Journalism is not a crime!” — it was said in the statement.

Along with Meydan TV employees, journalists from other media outlets, including Toplum TV, Abzas Media and Kanal-13, were also subjected to persecution. The persecution of journalists is described in the "Caucasian Knot" reference "Serial arrests of journalists in Azerbaijan".

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