Activist and blogger are brought to justice in Mingecheveir

Baku/13.06.20/Turan: On June 12, at the preparatory hearing in the case of journalist and activist ElchinHasanzadeh, the Mingachevir City Court accepted a lawsuit in the form of a private criminal charge against him.

The lawsuit was filed by the head of the city housing and operational management Shakhriyar Mustafayev. He demands to bring Hasanov under Art. 147.1. (defamation) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code.

The reason for the lawsuit is critical publications about the official in social networks.  Hasanzadeh claims that Mustafayev evicted him from a rented apartment where the activist lived.

During the preparatory hearing, Judge HuseynMirzaliev rejected the defendant's motion to consider the claim in this court.

“The fact is that at the place of residence I am registered in Sumgait. According to the law, proceedings in such cases should be considered by the courts at the place of registration. False registration was submitted to the court from the Housing and Operational Site (HOS)number eight stating that I was temporarily registered in Mingachevir. HOS no longer keep records at the place of residence - this is the competence of the police. On the other hand, the housing department is subordinate to the plaintiff and therefore in this case the documents issued by him cannot be an objective source for the court,”Hasanzade told Turan.

According to him, in addition, in violation of the law, the date of filing was not indicated in the statement of claim.

“Nevertheless, the court took the case into production and scheduled the consideration of the merits for June 18. The court has already shown its bias,”Hasanzade said.

According to the activist, although the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mustafayev, the city leadership is behind the criminal prosecution and he is punished in this way for criticizing the local authorities.

The plaintiff was inaccessible for comment. — 06D-