Confrontation at Trial on Journalist’s Death Case

The Court of Grave Crimes continued the trial on the death of the journalist Rasim Aliyev in a confrontation. The parents of those accused were outraged by the judge's refusal to summon the doctors of the hospital, in which Rasim died. They began to shout and throw chairs, requiring the judge to call the doctors and question them about the cause of the journalist’s death.

Attempts of the bailiffs to reassure the parents and relatives of the defendants were in vain, and so they used tear gas to clear the courtroom.

 According to the lawyer Fariz Namazly, which protects the interests of Rasim Aliyev’s family, four witnesses gave testimony today. The lawyer further requested to summon the doctors, but the judge Eldar Ismailov rejected this, which caused indignation of the parents of the accused. The trial was adjourned until 9 February.

After that, the parents and relatives of the defendants went to complain to the Presidential Administration. Before that, they expressed their indignation at the course of the trial, calling it far-fetched. "The authorities have staged a show here, everything is known in advance, and our children are convicted of a crime they did not commit," said the mother of one of the defendants.

Recall that Rasim Aliyev was beaten by a group of 5 or 6 athletes on 8 August 2015. The next day he died in hospital from internal bleeding.

Those who beat him were arrested. The cause of the attack on the journalist was his criticism of the behavior of the well-known footballer Javid Huseynov on Facebook. The people who attacked the journalist took revenge for his criticism of their friend and relative.

The main culprit, Javid Huseynov is charged with failure to report the planned crime, although the injured party and the colleagues of Rasim Aliyev consider him the organizer of the crime. -16D-