Khadija Ismailova questioned for 2.5 hours in prosecutor"s office

Baku/18.02.14/Turan : The investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova in the evening of 18 April was interrogated by the Investigation Department of the Serious Crimes Prosecutor General's Office as a witness for 2.5 hours.

The interrogation was associated with the information released by Ismayilova on Facebook on February 17, in connection with which a criminal case was filed under Article 284.2 (divulging state secrets, entailing serious consequences).

Note that Ismayilova published a memo from an MNS employee to this ministry's management dated 2011, which reported on the recruitment of an opposition activist, who in exchange for a cash payment in the amount of 600 manats was ready to inform the security service on the activities within the opposition and to make a split in its ranks.

Ismayilova said that prosecutors were interested in the origin of the material and the way it got to her.

She, in turn, noted that the document was circulated on Facebook in 2011.

Ismayilova was accompanied by the lawyer Rashid Hajili. According to him, before questioning the journalist the investigation had to ascertain whether the material was an authentic document, and if so, to investigate how it had gone beyond the MNS.

Hajili also pointed to the existence of the right of journalists not to disclose their sources and protect them.

On Wednesday at 11.00 Ismayilova is again summoned to the prosecutor's office. -16 / 06D-