The prosecutor's office in the role of educators of journalists

Baku/21.12.21/Turan: On December 18, journalist Sahavet Mammad was invited to the General Prosecutor's Office in connection with his articles about the army. Then he was taken to the Khatai District Court, where he was fined 500 manats for "posting an  information on information resource or in an information and telecommunication network, the dissemination of which is prohibited by the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan "On Information". Informatization and protection of information” ( The Article  388-1.1.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses).

Two days later, at a plenary session, the Milli Majlis adopted the draft law "On Mass Media" in the second reading. During the discussion, the deputies ignored numerous criticisms of the bill from experts and media representatives.

Lawyer and media expert Khalid Agaliyev spoke about all this in the “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, what happened to Sahavet  Mammad, the journalist was summoned to the General Prosecutor's Office or other law enforcement agency to interrogate him about the content of the materials he wrote, express dissatisfaction, warn him so that he (she) would not write something like that in the future - is widespread practiced by the law enforcement agencies of Azerbaijan.

“Such actions hardly coincide with the philosophy of such a fundamental human right as freedom of expression. They contradict  the Article  10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of expression, which Azerbaijan has joined,” Agaliyev said.

He noted that the law "On the Prosecutor's Office" allows prosecutors and, in general, these structures to call journalists, hold conversations with them and warn them. “But such legislation creates an opportunity to restrict freedom of speech, therefore, it does not apply to progressive ones, and it should be changed,” the lawyer said.

As for the 500 manats  fine imposed by the court on journalist Sahavet Mammad for violating the Code of Administrative Offenses, Agaliyev recalled:

“In 2017, amendments were made to the administrative legislation and the law “On Information, Informatization and Protection of Information” in Azerbaijan. In particular, the Article 13 of this law have undergone significant changes. We, of course, criticized the introduction of such changes, but tried to assure us that there was nothing to worry about. But what is happening today is the result of those very changes,” said the lawyer. –0—