Dissemination of information is violation of law,  lawyers

Baku/24.11.23/Turan: The materials of the criminal case during the investigation must remain secret and their dissemination is unacceptable and may affect the objectivity of the investigation,  Khalid Agaliyev, an expert in the field of media law, told Turan about this, commenting on the publication of investigation materials on the financing of the online publication “Abzas Media” in some media.

Thus, the pro-government agency Report in its “analytical” material claims that “the investigation found that “Abzas Media” received significant financial resources from Western institutions.” Among them are USAID, “People in Need,” Euro Media Group and others. The funds received were imported into the country without registration, illegally.

The financing also used cards that were not tied to a specific person.”  https://report.az/ru/analitika/korrupcionnye-shemy-kotorye-uskolzayut-ot-vnimaniya-vladelcev-abzas-media/

The distribution of investigative materials is prohibited by law and the perpetrators should be held responsible for this. In this case, there is a direct disclosure of details. It is noteworthy that the investigation officially began only 2-3 days, but has already "revealed" the grounds for the charges.

According to Agaliyev, it is possible that there is not disclosure of the investigation's secrets, but the stuffing of compromising materials in order to discredit Western structures and media objectionable to the authorities, and to justify the persecution of journalists. At the same time, the statement about the financing of the publication by specific organizations and the illegal import of money violates the presumption of innocence of the publication's employees.

No one can be represented as having committed a crime until his guilt is recognized by the court, Agaliyev stressed. In turn, another lawyer, former investigator Namizad Safarov does not see any “crime” in the activities of “Abzas Media” journalists at all.  There is nothing wrong with receiving media grants.

On the other hand, law enforcement agencies accusing journalists of “smuggling” do not see and do not talk about the facts of international investigations on the export of billions of dollars from Azerbaijan. The media that are busy today “exposing” journalists investigating the corruption of Azerbaijani officials are also silent about this, Safarov stressed. ---06B---