A Linguistic Expertise Has Been Appointed in the Case of Hafiz Babaly vs. Qafqazinfo.az

On Friday, the Narimanov District Court of Baku reviewed the lawsuit filed by Hafiz Babaly, editor of the economic news department at Turan agency, against the online publication Qafqazinfo.az. The hearing took place without Babaly's presence, despite the court having previously granted the defense's request for the plaintiff to attend,  his lawyer, Rasul Jafarov said. The court appointed a linguistic expert to determine whether there were defamatory and insulting statements in the materials published by Qafqazinfo.az, which were cited by the plaintiff. Proceedings in the case have been suspended until the expert's report is received.

This lawsuit stems from a publication dated December 28, 2023, on Qafqazinfo.az, titled "New Details in the Hafiz Babaly Case." Babaly claims the article contained defamatory and insulting information that tarnished his honor, dignity, and business reputation. Specifically, it was alleged that "Babaly received grants from Western donors and wrote articles at their request."

Babaly rejects these allegations, asserting that his investigations were part of his journalistic activities. He also points out that no complaints regarding his investigations and published articles have been made by any authorities, and the information in these materials has not been disproven by any administrative body or challenged in court.

Babaly also labeled as defamatory the claim that "Azerbaijani political émigrés in Europe were involved in projects with Hafiz Babaly."

He has asked the court to compel the publication to refute the defamatory statements, issue an apology, and pay him compensation amounting to 9,900 manats, as well as cover court costs of 119 manats.

*Hafiz Babaly was detained on December 13, 2023, on charges of "smuggling foreign currency." Following a court ruling, he was placed in pre-trial detention. Babaly is linked to the "Abzas Media" case. Human rights advocates have recognized him as a political prisoner.