Avaz Zeynalli was sentenced to 9 years, Elnur Shukyurov to 4 years

On February 26, the trial in the case of  Avaz Zeynalli, the head of the “Khural TV” Internet resource and Elnur Shukurov, the head of the “Sada TV” YouTube channel ended in the Baku Court of Serious Crimes.  Both defendants concluded their statements by asking the court to acquit them.

The court retired to a meeting, after which it announced the verdict: Avaz Zeynalli was imprisoned for 9 years, and Elnur Shukurov for 4 years. The court also confiscated 16 thousand manats seized during the search of Zeynalli's apartment.

The prosecutor asked the court to find Zeynalli guilty under Article 311 (taking a bribe) and Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trading authority) of the Criminal Code and sentence him to 10 years in prison. The prosecutor asked to sentence Shukurov to to five years of imprisonment under  the Article 312-1.1.

* Avaz Zeynalli and lawyer Elchin Sadigov were detained on September 10 on suspicion of accepting a bribe, and on September 11, the court arrested both. According to the investigation, Zeynalli, through the mediation of Sadigov, received a bribe of 20,000 manats from the family of the arrested businessman Rasim Mammadov in order not to publish defamatory information about him.

On September 17, the Baku Court of Appeal transferred Sadigov to house arrest, separating his case into a separate proceeding.

Later, Zeynalli was charged with a new charge - under Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trafficking in authority) of the Criminal Code. Elnur Shukyurov was also arrested on the same charge.