Plaintiff failed to appear for trial against journalist (updated)

Baku / 07.01.20 / Turan: A hearing was held today in the Agdam district court on the lawsuit filed by the owner of Lombard N1, Malahat Gurbanova, against the editor of criminal.az website Anar Mammadov.

According to the journalist himself, neither the plaintiff nor her representative appeared at the trial.

“She sent a motion to order an examination  to establish that there is an insult in the expression“ Pawnshop Malahat ”. The court dismissed the application,” Mammadov said. According to him, the court offered him a lawyer at the expense of the state.

“I refused and presented a warrant for my lawyer Elchin Sadigov, who will participate in the next trial,” Mammadov said. The judge scheduled the next hearing  on January 10th. -06D-

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2020 January 07 (Tuesday) 13:11:14

Activists Defend Journalist Anar Mammadov

Baku / 07.01.20 / Turan: A large group of civil society activists, media representatives and experts made a statement in defense of the head of the criminal.az website Anar Mammadov in connection with a new criminal case against him.

The statement indicates that Mammadov had previously been subjected to illegal interrogations and threats, as well as being groundlessly sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for conditionally covering the Ganja events of July 2018.

“It is clear that the activities of the independent website are worrying the ruling circles, and they are trying to stop its activities with various attacks,” the document says.

Currently, Mammadov has been charged as the defendant in a lawsuit filed by the owner of Pawnshop N1, Malahat Gurbanova, for covering the court’s lawsuit with former labor minister Fizuli Alekperov.

The plaintiff demands to convict the journalist for “slander” and “insult” only because in the title of the article she is presented as Pawnshop Malahat.

The lawsuit was accepted for consideration by the Agdam district court and the hearings are scheduled for January 7. On this charge, the journalist faces up to 2 years in prison, and in addition 5.5 years, which he is currently serving on probation.

“We, representatives of civil society, regard this lawsuit as continuing pressure on Anar Mammadov and demand an end to pressure on independent media,” the statement signed by 25 people said.

Among the signatories are journalists Shahveled Chobanoglu, Khadija Ismayilova, Rovshan Hajibeyli, Rauf Mirkadyrov and Natig Javadli, human rights defenders Samir Kazimly and Elchin Mammad, experts Arastun Orujlu, Ilham Ismail and Nazim Beydemirli, lawyers Alesker Mammadli, Khalid Agaliyev, Javad Javadov, and etc. –07B-----