A suit under the Article 147.2 .2 of the Criminal Code (defamation of a felony) was filed against the website editor "Gunxeber.com" and an employee of the newspaper "Yeni Musavat" Zabil Mugabiloglu (Najizade.) The plaintiff is Suleyman Bashirov, the Head of Culture and Tourism Department of Imishli region. The lawsuit was filed due to a message on May 30 on the site "Gunxeber.com" entitled "Attestation bribe by William Hajiyev."
The article stated that, in the department of culture and tourism in Imishli region the employees are certified, without the participation of the representatives of the Ministry of Culture; and that the head of department. Bashirov demands from workers bribe for the successful certification.
The lawsuit was filed in the Narimanov District Court, and was accepted by a judge Mazahir Sadigov. The consideration is scheduled for June 17th at 10:30.
Journalist considers illegal the adoption of a claim, because the name and address of the journalist were not indicated.
Secondly, the haste accepting the case by the judge is also doubtful. The Nariman district court should not consider the case because neither Mugabiloglu, nor a the edition of his site have been registered in the Narimanov district.
Editorial office was in Narimanov district until May 15, 2013.
Journalist told Turan, that the source of information was the workers of the culture and tourism department of Imishli region. It is noteworthy that in the lawsuit confirmed that the employees of the Ministry of Culture were not involved in certification. Mugabiloglu’s rights will protect the lawyer Elchin Sadigov and Vagif Huseyn, a lawyer of the newspaper "Yeni Musavat".
A lawyer of Media Rights Institute (IPM) Khalid Agaliyev, commenting on the lawsuit, said that the media law allows filing defamation lawsuits against on-line media.
However, the requirement to bring the journalists to justice for defamation is contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights, precedent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights in Azerbaijan (case Fatullayev, Yashar Aghazadeh, and Rovshan Kabirli), which indicated the need for the abolition of criminal penalties for defamation.
Saving penalties in the Criminal Code for libel and insult does not mean their mandatory use. In some European countries there are similar measures in the legislation, but they have not been applied for 40-50 years, since it will be challenged in the European Court of Human Rights and the Government will have to pay the penalty for it. Therefore, a moratorium on the use of these articles of the Criminal Code cannot be imposed in Azerbaijan before the adoption a law on defamation.
The Article 147.2 provides for up to three years in prison. -06B-
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