Court extends detention of “Abzas Media” journalist

On September 6, the Khatai District Court in Baku granted the request of the investigative authorities to extend the detention of journalist Elnara Gasimova, who has been arrested in connection with the “Abzas Media” case. According to the court's decision, she will remain in custody until November 13, a lawyer Gunay Ismayilova told Turan. The defense considers the decision to extend the journalist’s pretrial detention to be unjustified and plans to appeal it to the Court of Appeals.

The journalist herself reiterated in court that her arrest was due to her journalistic work and rejected the charges against her.

*Gasimova was arrested on January 15 on charges of smuggling money under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling by a group of persons in collusion). She is one of six journalists and media workers who were arrested between November 2023 and January 2024 in connection with the "Abzas Media" case. Subsequently, economist Farid Mehralizade was also arrested in this case.

Initially, all of them were charged under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code (smuggling by a group of persons in collusion). However, between August 16 and 19, the journalists were faced with more serious charges: Article 192.3.2 (illegal entrepreneurship with substantial income), Articles 193-1.3.1 and 193-1.3.2 (legalization of criminal proceeds by an organized group), Article 206.4 (smuggling by an organized group), Articles 320.1 and 320.2 (forgery and use of forged documents), as well as Article 213.2.1 (group tax evasion). These charges carry a penalty of up to 12 years in prison. The journalists deny all charges, asserting that they are being persecuted for investigating corruption at the highest levels of power.