The investigation in the case of Hilal Mamedov is over

On Friday, the regular meeting of the Committee  to Protect the rights  of Hilal Mamedov, chief editor of "Tolyshi Sado" newspaper, took place. 

The lawyer Khalid Bagirov told that Mamedov was arrested  on June 21 on charges of drug possession. Subsequently, he was charged under Articles 274 (high treason), 283 (incitement of ethnic hatred.)

According to the lawyer, the investigation completed, and the case is ready to be transferred to the court.

The lawyer said that the  lawsuit has no basis.

He called the indictment not a legal document, but a "political journalism."  There are not any real witnesses against  Mamedov.

Under the "high treason" there are "one or two witnesses, who heard something somewhere that Mamedov allegedly said something against the government."

Of  the eight-volume criminal case, four volumes have been copied from the case of the  previous late  editor of the "Tolyshi sado" newspaper, Novruzali Mamedov, convicted in 2008 on similar charges and  who died in 2009 in prison. Three more volumes of the criminal case  were copied from  the criminal case of  Alikram Hummatov, who  proclaimed in 1993 the "Talysh-Mugan Republic" (TMR.)

They want to  convict H.Mamedov for involvement in the creation of TMP, says the lawyer.

The investigation has classified the interview of H.Mamedov to  the program "Compass"  of the Iranian  "Seher" TV as a "high treason".

As for "inciting ethnic hatred",  H.Mamedov is charged with  the appeal to the head of state  through his paper to provide the conditions for the publication of the newspaper once a week.

Some “linguists” see in this appeal an "inciting ethnic hatred".

"Generally, an indictment against  Hilal Mammadov can be regarded as a literary, political document, not a legal act," Bagirov said. The public committee decided to appeal to the Supreme Court to hold an open  court trial in the case of H.Mamedov.—05C06--