Avaz Zeynalli
On December 18, the Supreme Court reviewed the appeal of Avaz Zeynalli, founder of the online platform Xural TV, and Elnur Shukurov, head of the YouTube channel Sada TV. "Avaz Zeynalli rejected all accusations, stating that he is being persecuted for his journalistic activities. He reminded that he had already been convicted once for accepting a bribe, but the European Court had ruled that conviction unlawful," Zeynalli's lawyer, Fahraddin Mehdiyev, said in a statement to Turan. The Supreme Court has reduced Zeynalli's prison sentence by only 2 months. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison.
As for Elnur Shukurov, the other defendant in the case, who was sentenced to 4 years in prison, his sentence was reduced by 1 year.
*Avaz Zeynalli and lawyer Elchin Sadigov were detained on September 10, 2023, on suspicion of accepting a bribe, and were arrested the following day. According to the investigation, Zeynalli, with Sadigov's assistance, received a bribe of 20,000 manats from the family of Rasim Mammadov, a businessman under arrest, in exchange for refraining from publishing damaging information about him. On September 17, the Baku Court of Appeals placed Sadigov under house arrest and separated his case into a separate trial.
Later, Zeynalli was charged with a new offense under Article 312-1.1 (illegal influence on a decision of a public official, also known as "trading in influence"). Elnur Shukurov was arrested under the same charge.
In February 2024, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced Zeynalli to 9 years in prison and Shukurov to 4 years. In April, the appellate court upheld these sentences.
Politics
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The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to drop charges against six members of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media and freelance journalist Farid Mehralizada, with U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Azerbaijani service, as a trial began Tuesday in the Serious Crimes Court of the capital, Baku.
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Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed on 15 out of 17 articles in the draft peace treaty, said President Ilham Aliyev in an interview on Wednesday with Russian TV channel VGTRK and news agency RIA Novosti.
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On December 18, the Baku Appeals Court rejected the appeal by economist and scholar Gubad Ibadoglu, challenging the decision to maintain his travel ban. Ibadoglu’s defense team had requested the lifting of the ban so that he could accept an invitation to attend the Sakharov Prize award ceremony at the European Parliament on December 17. Ibadoglu was one of the finalists for the prize, but the Narimanov District Court on December 3 had denied this request.
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On December 18, a number of pro-government media outlets reported the arrest of former diplomat Ramiz Valiyev, who had held key positions in several Azerbaijani embassies abroad. "It has been revealed that Ramiz Valiyev, who worked in senior positions at Azerbaijan's embassies in foreign countries, is suspected of abusing his authority, according to the investigative body of the State Security Service," the article states. Valiyev is further accused of anti-government activities and cooperation with foreign entities.
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