Avaz Zeynalli and Elnur Shukurov rejected the accusations in the last word

On February 23, in the Baku Serious Crimes Court, at the trial  in the case of the head of the “Khural TV” Internet resource Avaz Zeynalli and the head of the “Seda TV” YouTube channel Elnur Shukyurov, the defendants were given the floor for final speech.

Elnur Shukurov declared the accusations against him unfounded  and asked the court to acquit him. Zeynalli, in his final speech, also declared the falsification of the case and the inconsistency of the prosecution. Zeynalli's  trial  will continue on February 26.

Earlier, the prosecutor asked the court to find Zeynalli guilty under Article 311 (taking a bribe) and Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trading authority) of the Criminal Code, and sentence him to 10 years in prison.

The prosecutor proposed to convict Shukurov under Article 312-1.1 to five years in prison.

* Avaz Zeynalli and lawyer Elchin Sadigov were detained on September 10 on suspicion of accepting a bribe, and on September 11, the court arrested both. According to the investigation, Zeynalli, through the mediation of Sadigov, received money from the family of the arrested businessman Rasim Mammadov in order not to publish defamatory information about him. On September 17, the Baku Court of Appeal transferred Sadigov to house arrest, separating his case into a separate proceeding.

Later, Zeynalli was charged with a new charge - under Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trafficking in authority) of the Criminal Code. Elnur Shukurov was also arrested on the same charge.