Statement by Turan News Agency

Following the illegal arrest of the Director of Turan News Agency Mehman Aliyev on August 28, 2017, about ten employees and collaborators of Turan News Agency were summoned to the Department for Preliminary Investigation of Tax Crimes under the Ministry of Taxes.

The call of such a large number of people in one day for interrogation as witnesses was accompanied with a number of gross violations of the law.

For example, two journalists, despite the advance provision of a lawyer and the issuance of a power of attorney to him, were illegally deprived of the participation of their legal representative by the investigative body during the interrogation.

Vusal Ibadov, the head of the investigation group on the fabricated criminal case against Mehman Aliyev, could not give reasonable explanations for this lawlessness.

As a result, the witnesses were deprived of legal services and, in fact, questioned under moral and psychological pressure.

In addition, four of the acting and former employees of the Agency, despite the completion of the working day, were interrogated until 21.00-22.00.

On August 29, the Agency staff continued to be questioned as witnesses with the same intensity.

We believe that the questioning of the Agency's employees in the context of procedural violations of the law, with the deprivation of the lawyer's service, of a special unprecedented intensity, serves to "reinforce" fabricated charges brought against Mehman Aliyev at any cost.

Turan News Agency strongly condemns these gross violations made by the investigative body and calls on it to observe the lawfulness and to carry out investigative actions in accordance with the requirements of the criminal procedure legislation.
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