Court Rejects Claim of Radio Azadlig against Ministry of Taxes

The Baku Administrative-Economic Court Number 1 chaired by Elchin Mammadov on 17 August continued consideration of the claim

from Radio Azadlig (Liberty) against the Ministry of Taxes of Azerbaijan.

The plaintiff asked to annul the Act drawn up by the tax authority on 10 March 2016 on the results of testing from January 2015 to March 2016, and to cancel the decision taken on the basis of the Act of 21 April 2016.

So, in the course of the tax field audit the non-payment of income tax in the total amount of AZN 131 540.86 was revealed. The act states that Radio Azadlig did not pay income tax and incorrectly accrued tax on employees' wages.

The tax audit covered the period from 1 December 2007 to 1 December 2014.

The representative of the Ministry of Taxes, Khamiz Seyranov, requested not to consider the claim, arguing that the prosecutor’s investigation in the case against Radio Azadlig was not completed.

The representative of Radio Azadlig Adil Ismailov protested, demanding the evidence and saying the Prosecutor General's investigation was not completed.

"How could tax audit be completed and penalty used against us, while the investigation is still going on? I believe the court should continue the case," said Ismailov.

He also recalled that during the search in the Radio Azadlig office all the documents of the mission, including the seal, were removed and not returned.

He noted that the check was linked to the case against the journalist Khadija Ismailova, and she was acquitted on two points of the tax audit.

The judge Elchin Mammadov after a short meeting decided to suspend the proceedings.

In an interview with Turan the plaintiff's representative expressed disagreement with the court decision. On the question whether the decision would be appealed, the lawyer said that the decision would be made after consultations with the leadership of the radio.

Recall that the Azerbaijani representative office and the Baku bureau of the radio were closed in December 2014. Before that the columnist for Radio Azadlig, Khadija Ismayilova, was arrested. In September 2015 she was sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment on charges of official and economic crimes. However, on May 25, 2016 the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan recognized the legitimacy of the activities of the Azerbaijani representation of Radio Azadlig and acquitted Ismailova on the abuse of office and embezzlement, commuting the sentence to 3.5 years of conditional imprisonment.   -C06-