Information about recruitment of opposition activists not considered a state secret

The material distributed by the journalist Khadija Ismayilova, judging by its content, cannot be classified as a state secret. This opinion was expressed by the lawyer Alasgar Mammadov in the talk with Turan.

According to him, the law on state secrets identifies four categories of secret information: information relating to military secrets, state secrets in the economic sphere, state secrecy in foreign policy, and information relating to intelligence, counterintelligence and operational and investigative activities.

Mammadov noted that information regarding the activities of some opposition member cannot be considered a state secret in terms of intelligence, counterintelligence, operational and investigative activities. According to him, these activities cannot be used for domestic political purposes, and in particular, to discredit the opposition.

As precedents of the illegality of such activities Mammadov called the sensational criminal case Ergenekon in Turkey, when many generals and officials were arrested.

In addition, documents containing state secrets should have a secrecy label - "secret," " top secret", or "of special state importance." The text circulated by Ismayilova did not include such details.

According to Mammadov, Ismayilova in any case cannot be responsible for disclosing state secrets. Citizens are responsible for disclosing state secrets, if they were admitted to those secrets and pledged not to disclose them.

On the question whether Ismayilova is liable for breach of professional secrecy, the expert said that only people who store professional secrets are responsible for their disclosure. -06B -