Residents of Khudat stood up for journalist Jamil Mammadli

Baku/23.05.23/Turan: About 40 residents of the Khudat village of Khachmaz region appealed to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva with a request to help stop pressure on local journalist Jamil Mammadli.

"Journalist Jamil Mammadli covers lawlessness, negative phenomena in the Khachmaz region and in the region as a whole. He tries to help every resident of the region who has difficulties," the appeal says.

Mammadli has been engaged in journalism in the northern region of the country for many years. In the past, he collaborated with Radio "Azadlig", and in recent years he has been working as an independent journalist.

Earlier, he was sentenced to correctional labor for defamation. The lawsuit was filed by the head of the Guba region of the country.

At the beginning of this year, several court cases were also launched against him on charges of libel and insult. In addition, a case has been initiated on charges of hooliganism.

The journalist denies all the accusations and believes that the purpose of the pressure on him is to silence him.

One of the complaints was filed by a local resident Fuad Gabibov, accusing the journalist of extortion. He claims that Mammadli took 10,000 manats from him, promising to help solve the murder of Gabibov's mother.

"This is an absolute lie. A criminal case has been initiated against me under Article 178.2 (fraud committed by a group of persons) of the Criminal Code. Also, the case against me continues under Article 221.2 (hooliganism). These complaints were filed and criminal cases were initiated after I disclosed the facts about the appropriation of state funds by the head of the Guba district.

"The released video confirmed that the funds allocated for the organization of public works in Guba were appropriated. The money was allegedly paid to residents of the district who received nothing and confirmed it in a video interview," Mammadli said. ---03B6---