The court did not satisfy Hafiz Babaly's claim against ATV

The consideration of the claim of the editor of the economic news department of Turan agency Hafiz Babaly against ATV TV channel has ended today in the Sabail court of Baku. The lawsuit was filed in connection with the defamation of Babaly in the news of the TV channel on December 28.

The plaintiff believes that the TV channel voiced defamatory and insulting statements discrediting the honor and dignity of the journalist. In particular, ATV stated that "the editor of the Turan news agency, Hafiz Babaly, established contacts with foreign foundations and conducted investigations and prepared articles on grant projects."

The journalist's lawsuit says that Babaly's investigations were part of his journalistic activities, and not an order from foreign donors. In addition, no one has made claims about the published articles, and the information in these articles has not been refuted by any administrative body and has not been challenged in court.

Babaly demanded a refutation of the published defamatory allegations, an apology and compensation in the amount of 20,000 manats and payment of court costs.

As lawyer Rasul Jafarov told Turan, ATV's representative in court stated that the publication was taken from Qafqazinfo.az and the TV channel is not responsible. However, according to the lawyer, the defendant's reference to Article 77 of the  “Media Law”, that the media is not responsible for publishing other people's information, is not valid.

According to this article, the media are exempt from liability in cases of publication of official communications from government agencies, statements by officials, deputies, press releases from public, private and non-governmental organizations, parties, and news agencies.

In this case, the reference to Article 77 is inappropriate because Qafqazinfo.az not an information agency, but an online newspaper.  However, the court did not satisfy the claim, Jafarov said.  The court did not ensure the presence of Babaly himself at the meeting.

On May 7 and May 13, similar lawsuits will be considered against Qafqazinfo.az and the “Iki Sahil” newspaper.

Babaly is under arrest in the case of “Abzas Media.” He denies the smuggling charge against him.