Investigation on the case of journalist Osman Narimanoglu extended

Baku/10.12.22/Turan: Journalist, owner of the website Demokratik.az Osman Narimanoglu (Rzayev) transmitted from the pre-trial detention center through his relatives a message about the moral torture he is subjected to by the investigator and the prosecutor's office. Narimanoglu was arrested on July 5 on charges of extorting money from officials of the Land Reclamation Department and doctors from the Goranboy and Goygol regions (Article 182.2.2 of the Criminal Code - extortion under threat).

Narimanoglu's relatives reported an artificial extension of the investigation time, while no normal investigative actions were carried out over the past three months.

According to the Article 91 of the Criminal Code, during the period of investigation, the person under investigation may demand that the case be transferred to an open court. Narimanoglu demands an open trial over him. He believes that, along with the illegal extension of the investigation, moral torture is being used against him, his relatives reported Narimanoglu's words.

After the arrest, the journalist told his colleagues that the accusations were false, that he was slandered by those about whose corruption he published exposing materials, and the district prosecutor of the Goygol region, Ilgar Hajizade, took the side of corrupt officials. Narimanoglu claims that the prosecution has no evidence of extortion and that in general, the investigator of the Goygol region Vusal Sadikhov did not find a single fact confirming his guilt.

Osman Narimanoglu said that  over 15 years of  his journalistic work he never took bribes, he always acted transparently, exposing local violators of the law.

https://demokratik.az/manshet/30084-demokratikaz-saytinin-rehberi-osman-nerimanoglu-hebsinin-sebebini-aciqladi.html

At the end of 2018, Osman Narimanoglu filed a lawsuit with the Goygol court, accusing Ilgar Maharramov, chairman of the Melioration Department of the Goygol region, of slander and blackmail.

In a conversation with Turan, the journalist's lawyer Shahlar Tagiyev confirmed that the investigation had no direct evidence. Journalist Narimanoglu is innocent and will be acquitted, after which he will tell everything. He cannot say more, since there is a secrecy of the investigation,  the lawyer said.

On October 10-11, the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office did not respond to Turan's request regarding the claims of the person under investigation. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs repeated the official version of the accusation.--0—