On February 6, 2025, the Khatai District Court of Baku decided to place journalist Shahnaz Beylyargizi under arrest for three months and 15 days. According to lawyer Bakhtiyar Hajiyev, Beylyarghizi has been charged with the same accusations as the previously arrested journalists and activists in the Toplum TV case. However, Beylyargizi is being prosecuted in a separate case. It is worth recalling that, following the preliminary investigation, the suspects in the Toplum TV case were charged with the following articles:
- Article 162-1 (Engaging in work without a labor contract)
- Article 192.3.2 (Illegal entrepreneurship with significant income)
- Article 193-1.3.1 (Money laundering through an organized group)
- Article 193-1.3.2 (The same actions carried out on a large scale)
- Article 206.4 (Contraband by an organized group)
- Article 213.2.1 (Tax evasion by an organized group) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
The journalist faces a potential sentence of up to 12 years in prison.
Beylyargizi rejects the accusations.
Before the court session, her lawyer met with Beylyargizi in the temporary detention center of the Khatai police.
"The health of Shahnaz Beylyargizi is not good.
She has diabetes and high blood sugar, high blood pressure.
Yesterday, during the investigative procedure, her blood pressure suddenly spiked to 200, and an ambulance was called.
Her blood pressure is still high, remaining at 140-150," said the lawyer.
Meanwhile, the journalist’s husband reported that she suffers from hypertension, acute diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and has a cyst in her brain.
The journalist has two minor children. The decision to arrest will be appealed.
Politics
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On February 6, pro-government media reported 6 that Azerbaijan is demanding the closure of the “Rossotrudnichestvo” representation in the country, as this organization is not registered in Azerbaijan. Requests from Turan agency to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan to confirm this information went unanswered.
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The international organization "Women Press Freedom" condemned the arrest of journalist Shahnaz Beylergizi in Azerbaijan. A statement of the organization noted that this is the latest in a series of troubling state attacks on independent media in Azerbaijan. On the same day, another journalist, Shamshad Aga, was detained.
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Shamshad Aga, editor of the "Argument.az" website, has been found guilty in the Meydan TV case of smuggling (Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code) and sentenced to two months and one day in detention. The decision was made on February 6 by the Khatai District Court of Baku, as reported by Turan, citing his lawyer, Shahla Humbatova.
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On February 6, by the decree of Ilham Aliyev, the President of Azerbaijan, Sahil Babayev was relieved of his duties as Minister of Labor and Social Protection.
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