Faig Amirov Faces New Charges

Baku / 17.04.17 / Turan: On Monday, the arrested Financial Director of the Azadlig newspaper Faig Amirov faced new charges, his lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev told Turan. In particular, the investigation accused Amirov of Articles 213.1 (evasion from paying taxes) and 308.2 (abuse of office) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. According to the lawyer, Amirov rejected the charges and refused to testify.

Mehdiyev drew attention to the fact that under previous charges Amirov was charged with actions on articles relating to less serious crimes. The new charges are put forward on articles relating to grave crimes. The lawyer believes that the previous charges against Amirov will be removed because of their obvious absurdity.

Recall that Amirov was detained on August 20, 2016. He was charged with inciting inter-religious strife. In particular, Amirov was presented by the investigation as an imam of the Hizmet movement, which in Turkey is accused of terrorism and attempted coup. Amirov rejected these accusations.

After Amirov's arrest, the issue of the newspaper Azadlig was terminated. The bank serving the newspaper refused to accept the authority of other employees of the newspaper Azadlig. The editorial office of Azadlig was subjected to a tax audit of its activities for the period of 2010-2016. The majority of employees of the newspaper were summoned for interrogation to the Investigation Department for Grave Crimes of the Prosecutor General's Office. Some of them had to leave the country.  -03B06--