At Trial of Mustafa Hajibeyli

Baku / 22.01.19 / Turan: The Baku Court of Grave Crimes chaired by Sabuhi Huseynov began a judicial investigation into the case of Mustafa Hajibeyli, editor-in-chief of the Bastainfo.com website.

* On July 9, the Prosecutor General"s Office opened a criminal case on the dissemination to the Internet of "false information" and "illegal appeals" in connection with the attempt on the head of Ganja Elmar Veliyev and the energy blackout in Mingachevir when almost all of Azerbaijan was left without power supply.

After that, the prosecutor's office appealed to the Ministry of Communications to block the sites Bastainfo.com, Criminalaz.com, Topxeber.az and Fia.az.

At first, Hajibeyli passed as a witness. However, on November 30, he was transferred to the status of the accused. He, in particular, was charged under articles of the Criminal Code: 281.2 (appeals against the state), 309.2 (abuse of office) and 313 (official forgery).

Regarding the editor, a preventive measure in the form of police supervision was chosen.

At today's court session, the indictment was announced. It states that Mustafa Hajibeyli, "using his official powers, has repeatedly published through his website open calls for a change of government."

Hajibeyli himself said that he "would not plead guilty."

Lawyer Osman Kazimov, in turn, said that the defense does not understand the content of the charges.

He read one of the news published on the website bastainfo.com with reference to the agency Turan about the arrest of members of the PFPA.

The lawyer asked, "Where in this news is there a call for the overthrow of power?" The lawyer requested that the prosecution provide evidence of the corpus delicti in the news. The judge did not respond to the petition and proceeded to interrogate the witnesses.

Before the trial, three witnesses were heard - journalists collaborating with the website Bastainfo.com.

They confirmed that their texts are published after the editor-in-chief reviews the materials.

The journalists said the texts incriminated to the editor-in-chief were reprinted from Turan.

When the lawyer asked the witness Heybat Amrah about the source of the photo with traces of violence on the body of Younis Safarov accused of the murder of the head of Ganja, the judge removed the question.

Another witness, Rufat Bakhshiyev, on this occasion said that the photo could appear in the public domain only from within law enforcement agencies.

Hajibeyli asked the witnesses whether they were worried after the publication of the incriminated texts to which they responded negatively.

The trial will continue on January 29 at 9.30.

Mustafa Hajibeyli is one of the prominent opposition journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 20 years he has worked in various media of Azerbaijan. He is also the brother of the head of the Musavat party, Arif Hajili. -16 / 03D-