Prosecutor Demands Toughening Penalty for Journalist Elchin Hasanov

The prosecutor filed a protest against the penalty for the journalist Elchin Hasanov sentenced to one year of corrective labor on charges of hooliganism. The prosecution demands 3.5 years in prison for him. In turn, the lawyer Fariz Namazly filed an appeal against the verdict, in which he asks to justify Hasanov. As Namazly said in an interview with Turan, the trial in the Baku Court of Appeal will be next month.

It is noteworthy that the protest was filed by the prosecutor on June 21 - the last day of the expiry of the 20-day period allotted for this procedural action.

* The criminal case is related to the incident eighteen months ago, when Hasanov himself was attacked by the former head of the news agency Asia, Jafar Jafarov. The latter is now on trial on charges of extortion. After the incident, Hasanov appealed to the police, and after some time Jafarov was arrested, though not on the complaint by Hasanov, but in connection with facts of extortion. However, in March of this year, a criminal case was initiated against Hasanov himself. Hasanov said he is being persecuted for his journalistic and opposition activities. He is the deputy editor of the Sumgait Internet newspaper Yukselish Namine (yukselis.info). In addition, he is a member of the Supreme Majlis of PFPA and deputy head of the NGO Legal Education of Sumgait Youth. The start of the criminal case against Hasanov coincided with his publications on the topic of corruption and embezzlement in the army. -06B-