The court will consider Hafiz Babaly's claim against Qafqazinfo.az

The Narimanov district Court of Baku accepted for consideration the statement of claim of the editor of the department of "economic news" of the Turan agency Hafiz Babaly against the Internet edition Qafqazinfo.az .

The preparatory hearing on the case began on April 2. Lawyer Rasul Jafarov petitioned for the journalist's personal participation in the trial. The court granted the petition and scheduled the next meeting for May 7. The defendant's representative was absent from the trial.

The lawsuit was filed in connection with the publication of an article "New details on the case of Hafiz Babaly" on the website Qafqazinfo.az. The plaintiff believes that it contained defamatory and insulting information discrediting the honor, dignity and business reputation of Babaly as an investigative journalist.

In particular, the article claimed that "the editor of the Turan news agency, Hafiz Babaly, having established contacts with foreign organizations and foundations in connection with grant projects, conducted investigations and prepared articles on their behalf."

In the lawsuit, this statement is called "slander", because Babaly did not conduct investigations commissioned by foreign organizations and foundations and did not publish articles commissioned by them.

His investigations were part of his journalistic activities, which always respected the ethical principles and norms of journalism. In addition, no one has made claims about the investigations and published articles, and the information in these articles has not been refuted by any administrative body and has not been challenged through the courts.

The plaintiff also considers defamatory the statement that "Azerbaijani political emigrants in Europe were also involved in projects with the participation of Hafiz Babaly.

Babaly demands a refutation of the published defamatory allegations, an apology and compensation in the amount of 9900 manats and oblige the editorial office to pay court costs in connection with the claim in the amount of 119 manats.

The Turan agency received a statement from Babaly that the information contained in these publications was a secret of the investigation. In particular, this is information about the Berlin Risk Advisors company, which allegedly ordered the investigation.

On December 13, he himself told the investigation about cooperation with Berlin Risk Advisors under a bilateral agreement. It had nothing to do with journalism.  This contract was not public, so the media could only get about it from the investigation itself, which in fact "committed a crime." The other organizations mentioned in the media publications are not known to Babaly and he did not have financial and professional cooperation with other foreign organizations.