Unsolved murder: 14 years later

Fourteen years have passed since the day when Elmar Huseynov, the founder and editor-in-chief of Monitor magazine, was shot dead on his doorstep. However, those who ordered this crime have not yet been identified, and its perpetrators Tahir Khubanov and Teimuraz Aliyev, although declared wanted, did not take measures to transport them from Georgia to Azerbaijan. In turn, the Azerbaijani authorities have repeatedly stated that the extradition of suspects from Georgia is difficult, so it is impossible to continue the investigation.

In short, over the past 14 years, the murder of a journalist has not been solved. During this time, two more journalists - publicist Rafig Tagi, who was stabbed, and the head of the Institute for Reporters Freedom and Safety, Rasim Aliyev, who was beaten on the street, mysteriously died in hospital.

In Azerbaijan, journalists are harassed, pressured, threatened, and imprisoned for their professional activities. Currently five journalists are in prison and included in the list of political prisoners. The Azerbaijani authorities, claiming that it is difficult to extradite the murderers of Elmar Huseynov to Georgia from Azerbaijan, nevertheless, organized the abduction and transfer to Baku from Tbilisi of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly and sentenced him to prison. However, despite this, then the Press Council did not react to this step. Now, after 14 years, the joint venture suddenly came up with the aforementioned address, and this raises many questions.

Journalist Chingiz Sultansoy, a former colleague of the late Elmar Huseynov, answered all the questions to Turan IA.

- What is going on? Why did 14 years, suddenly after the death of Elmar Huseynov, the Press Council appealed to the State Security Service with a request to find his murderers?

- I do not know the reasons for this, so I cannot say something specific. However, taking into account that the joint venture is a body dependent on the government and acting according to its order, and the murder of E. Huseynov is an undisclosed crime known throughout the world that does not honor the authorities and puts them in a very difficult position, we can say that today this statement was necessary for them. Rather, it is designed to create some kind of visibility, and without permission, or rather, instructions from the authorities, the Press Council would not dare to make this appeal.

- What do you think is the purpose of the appeal, which was late for 14 years, during which the Press Council remained indifferent to the murder of Elmar Huseynov? During this time, we have never seen any of the members of the joint venture at the annual commemoration of a journalist.

"The reason why the joint venture remained indifferent to the murder of Elmar Huseynov is known, as I said, this is dependence on power, concealment or silence of unfavorable issues. The killing of Elmar hurts us, his colleagues, and we want to be revealed, we thirst for justice.

If the capture, punishment of the murderers would have been beneficial to the authorities, she would have done it for a long time, or at least the investigation would have said something concrete, intelligible. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is investigating this case on the suit of Rushania Huseynova, Elmar"s spouse. In its resolution of April 13, 2017, in connection with the investigation of the case of the murder of E. Huseynov, the ECHR found the Azerbaijani authorities guilty of violating his right to life.

The resolution states that, having all legal means at its disposal, the Azerbaijani government nevertheless conducted an investigation ineffectively, did not take all the necessary measures, did not cooperate with Tbilisi, and did not even send a criminal case to Georgia to arrest two citizens of this country. It follows from the above that the authorities are not interested in solving the crime and punishing the murderers. Do I need something else to add to what was said? At the same time, I think it is a positive fact that the murder of Elmar Huseynov is mentioned as an unsolved criminal case.

- There are opinions that this appeal was made with a definite purpose: allegedly, by reanimation of the issue of unsolved murder of a journalist, they could arrest one of the former ministers. That is, they are again preparing some kind of political show. How likely is this version? What is the purpose of this appeal?

- What you say is very plausible. The likelihood of a dirty new game, playing a political show is quite high. I cannot say anything concrete about the plan to blame the crime. However, it would be too naive to believe that the Press Council, which kept silent when they were thrown into torture chambers and tortured journalists Seymour Hazi, Afgan Mukhtarly, blogger Mehman Huseynov and many others, suddenly started talking. The Press Council is a simple tool in the hands of the authorities and for hire performs its task.

- The appeal notes that the continuing impunity of the killers of Elmar Huseynov is worrying. Well, where are the results of the investigation, the conclusions of investigations carried out by investigators brought in from other countries? Why were not they made public at the time?

- This is the unexpected concern of the Press Council that is frustrating. Let us briefly recall the previous results. Immediately after the assassination, President Ilham Aliyev took the case under his personal control. An investigation team was established consisting of employees of the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Security and the General Prosecutor"s Office, as well as the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and several forensic experts from Turkey.

At that time, the group"s statement said that a resident of Tbilisi, Tahir Khubanov, came to Baku to monitor Elmar and take part in the crime, and found out his work and home addresses. Based on all this, T. Khubanov, as well as Teimuraz Aliyev, who arrived with him in Baku, and three others were found guilty of E. Huseynov"s death. These people, the next morning after the murder, left Baku for Tbilisi. It is also known that a gun and a knitted hat with traces of sweat and with separate hair stuck to it, that is, material for the determination of DNA, were found 150 meters from the crime scene. According to this biological material, which was sent to the United States, it is possible to establish easily the involvement of the suspects in the crime by identifying this DNA with the DNA of the latter. The cousin of Teimuraz Aliyev, who lives in Baku and bought him a mobile phone, was arrested and convicted, and Teimuraz himself was wanted by Interpol. However, after this, no information was received, as if the investigation had stopped.

It was at that very time that it became known that there were no names of Teimuraz Aliyev and Tahir Khubanov on the list of persons wanted by Interpol. Recently, I also looked at this site and, indeed, Teimuraz is not mentioned there, although if he was not detained, his name should have remained on the list until now. This suggests that Teimuraz Aliyev was never declared in search of Interpol. Strange, is not it? The investigation says that the perpetrator of the murder was wanted, but in fact, it was not done.

Therefore, the investigation does not want to find this person. What could be the reason for this reluctance and inaction? Non-professionalism, negligence or indication from above? However, can unprofessionalism, carelessness be so monstrous? If we consider that the murder case is under the control of President Ilham Aliyev, then much becomes clear.

- In the meantime, several versions of events have appeared. Some in connection with this case mentioned the name of Akif Chovdarov, others - Haji Mamedov and others. Some journalists even met with Tair Khubanov and Teimuraz Aliyev in Georgia. You are well aware of these processes. Based on the information you have and your analysis, can you say who the perpetrator of this murder is?

- Version of Haji Mamedov ... I participated as a correspondent at numerous court sessions in the case of Mamedov, and I heard how he confessed to this murder. However, it later turned out that the killers of Haji Mamedov, the Chechens who were present in court as defendants, do not know the details of the killing of Elmar. That is why this version was eliminated. It is possible that the authorities wanted to complete the criminal case on the murder of Elmar Huseynov and put an end to the rumors abusing them, and therefore they decided to hang the case on Haji, who for some reason agreed to it. However, this show failed.

The version of the MNB general Akif Chovdarov ... I heard about the involvement of Chovdarov in this crime from Eynulla Fatullayev shortly after his release from prison, at the best of times. According to Eynulla, General Chovdarov is one of the organizers of Elmar"s assassination: allegedly, Chovdarov himself admitted when he interrogated Eynullah (!).

-Eynulla is a knowledgeable person who knows many of the behind-the-scenes and secret affairs of the authorities. However, can you believe his words? I do not know anything else, but this version should at least be checked. Why did not they checked it?

-Meeting with Teimuraz Aliyev in Tbilisi. In November 2006, Eynulla Fatullayev, the late Ibrahim Bayandurlu, Kenan Guluzade and I met in Tbilisi with a man who introduced himself as Teimuraz. He was found by Eynulla (as he found, this is another question). I and Ibrahim Bayandurlu photographed him from the side.

When we returned to Baku, we were interrogated by the Ministry of National Security (the current State Security Service) as witnesses, and I presented the photos to the investigator. The MNB told me that the person who introduced himself as Teimuraz Aliyev was not really Teimuraz, and deceived us. However, no one there asked why this person, having come to meet with us, decided to "deceive" us and introduced himself as Teimuraz Aliyev, no one began to follow him. Why? At least, if a person lies in such a case, then the investigation should have been seriously interested. If you are not interested, then what is the reason?

After some time, it was confirmed that the person we met with was really Teimuraz Aliyev: the lawyer Isakhan Ashurov told me about this when he saw the photo of the latter. It became clear that the Ministry of National Security does not want to admit that T. Aliyev was found, because in this case the MNS lie would be revealed, that it allegedly could not find T. Aliyev. Then they used a new lie - allegedly official Tbilisi does not extradite Teimuraz Aliyev and others to Azerbaijan, because they are citizens of Georgia. Why should Georgia extradite its citizens to Azerbaijan? Well, let us say Tbilisi does not give Teimuraz Aliyev. However, why then did you not go and interrogate him there with the participation of the Georgian police, lawyer Teimuraz and even the Georgian ombudsman? Was it difficult to do it? Was it impossible?

Was it possible to kidnap Afgan Mukhtarly from Tbilisi and deliver him to Baku; and was it impossible to take Teimuraz Aliyev, Tahir Khubanov and others DNA in Tbilisi and compare with the DNA found at the site of the murder of Elmar Huseynov? Was it even impossible to interrogate them in Tbilisi with the participation of a lawyer? Could not members of the Press Council ask these questions?

"The murder of the journalist has been unsolved for 14 years. However, in principle, can this be done after such a long time?

- Why not? Ukrainian journalist Georgy Gongadze was killed in 2000, his charred body was found in the forest, and the skull was still not found. Although some facts about his death were covered in the press, for a long time the murder remained unsolved. Only five years later, after the change of power in Ukraine because of the presidential elections of 2005, the newly elected President Yushchenko announced the detection of a crime. Yury Kravchenko, who was the Minister of the Interior during the murder, was summoned to the prosecutor's office in 2005, but did not come, and was found dead at his dacha: according to the official version, he committed suicide. Very strange, but he died of two shots to the head.

Three more years passed and three high-ranking police officers were arrested and sentenced to 12 and 13 years in prison. 8 years later! It took another 5 years, Police General Pukach, who led the "punitive operation," was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. 13 years after the murder! I want to say that even 13 later the perpetrators of Gongadze"s murder were punished the way they deserved. It is true that the most senior customers of the murder have not yet been disclosed, but traces lead to the then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma and his entourage. They are free, but I believe that someday they will also be brought to clean water. Sooner or later, revenge will overtake them.

- In fact, over the past 14 years, three journalists have been killed. Several journalists were arrested and threatened with death, and now this trend is still ongoing. However, the Press Council did not respond to these events, except for one or two cases. What do you think: how should it be?

Yes, journalists are being subjected to the most various forms of cruel and disgusting repression. The murder of Rafig Tagi was not disclosed, the blame for this crime was laid on an unknown Islamist who allegedly performed the fatwa of the Iranian ayatollah. However, do not forget that after receiving knife wounds, Rafig Tagi was still alive, he came to himself, but he died in the hospital. Who controls the hospital in Baku, the reactionary Iranian ayatollahs and terrorists or the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan? After the beating of Rasim Aliyev to death, the trial and punishment took place, but this does not mean the triumph of justice.

One of the most recent examples of repression against journalists is the arrest of the founder and chief editor of Bakupress.az, Shafag Agadjan, who was accused of drug trafficking for her critical article on trafficking and torture, which Anar Mammadov is subjected.

The worst thing is the continuous and disgusting eking-up campaign conducted against the founder and host of the "Osmanqızı" channel Sevinj Osmangizi on Real TV, on the pages of the Yeni Musavat newspaper, etc. What makes Real TV is nothing but outright humiliation, insults and threats against Sevinj Osmangizi, which conducts critical programs that stand out sharply against the gray content of TV channels and the press, which have been silenced.

Presenter of Real TV, Mirshakhin Agayev, without disdain, without lies and slanders, blackmails without a twinge of conscience. It is a shame to pronounce the name of what he does, and he frankly speaks directly from the screen that is incompatible with such concepts as conscience, ethics, good breeding, and morality. In addition, the Press Council silently looks at all this, and therefore, becomes an accomplice of such crimes as slander, blackmail and immorality.

Let us wait, maybe 14-15 years later, if it is necessary. Will the Press Council also talk about it?