At Gabil Veliyev's Trial

Baku / 16.02.18 / Turan: A trial on the criminal case of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Gundelik Baky, Gabil Veliyev, was completed under the chairmanship of Fikret Garibov in the Baku Grave Crimes Court.

At the beginning of the trial, the witness Safa Veliyeva was briefly questioned and confirmed the transfer of 1,000 manat. However, it remains unknown, in which episode of the criminal case she was a witness, or from whom and to whom the money was transferred. The state prosecutor only asked whether she confirmed her testimony with the preliminary investigation. After the affirmative answer, the judge declared that she could go away.

The last witness was Rabil Huseynov, who twice passed money from the victims to Gabil Veliyev. In the testimony to the court, he stated that one day a victim named Rafik asked him to transfer 780 manat to the defendant. The second time he also gave money to Veliyev, but this time from a man named Rasim. When asked by the judge about the amount, he replied that he did not count the money. The witness also stated that he confirmed his testimony with the preliminary investigation.

Then Judge Garibov announced that the interrogation of the witnesses was over, and he gave the floor to the defendant to testify. Veliyev said that all the testimonies of the victims were slander and insult: "The people testified that I extorted money from them since 2007, but how could it be that in such a long period of time this was not exposed? I consider myself a representative of the authorities, the same as the ones who arrested me. Unfortunately, Gabil Veliyev, who has been engaged in politics for 25 years, is now behind bars. God bless the President, he always makes humane decisions, moreover, this is the year of the elections. I do not know why I was arrested here. Ramin Jabrayil claims that I extorted money from him. On his complaint, our newspaper was fined 20,000 manat in due time, but immediately after that he filed a lawsuit against me in a special accusatory order, but here he stated that he did not have claims, and people who pushed me to such actions should be arrested. How could I demand money from him if I had already been fined 20 thousand? As for the hotbeds of debauchery, about which I constantly wrote, I declare that I have always fought against this phenomenon, both at press conferences and in my newspaper. The victim Khayam told the investigation that he worked with 22 women and was John Broganza. Everyone knows what this means. Here he said that he does not know me. A woman whom I do now know came to the court as a victim.

I am a member of the organizing committee of the New Azerbaijan Party (NAP). In addition, I am the chairman of a polling station and I held four elections, including a referendum on the appointment of the Vice President. If I'm a criminal, then how could I participate in all this? I consider myself a representative of the authorities, and I do not belong to those who take bribes. I am a veteran of the war, and I can not look at how women are auctioned. Therefore, I drove this Nofel engaged in all this and is acting here as a victim from my office. Even if we search with a microscope, it is impossible to find even letters directed against statehood in the newspaper Gundelik Baky. I am proud of the development of our state. The bodies that deal with its security work flawlessly. I do not blame those who arrested me, they had to do it, since they were investigating. I blame those who wrote statements against me, because everything they wrote was slander. At the trial, my innocence was proved." Veliyev answered the lawyer's questions about the victims, saying that he did not know any of them, except the owner of the Corona company Ramil Guliyev, with whom they had a lawsuit. The prosecutor had no questions to the defendant.

Then Judge Fikret Garibov announced the completion of the judicial investigation, and gave the parties time to prepare for the debate until February 27.

It should be noted that the editor-in-chief of the newspaper Gundelik Baky, Gabil Veliyev, was arrested in December 2016 on suspicion of extorting by threats, carrying out operational search activities by persons who do not have the authority to do that, using technical means for obtaining confidential information. --0--