Suicide attempt of a former employee of the "Azertaj" Agency

Baku/27.02.23/Turan: Aygun Aliyeva, a former correspondent of the "Azertaj" state news agency, attempted suicide early in the morning on February 27, her relatives told Turan. She is currently in Clinical Medical Center No. 1. 

The reason for the incident was the violation by the Supreme Court of the rights of Aygyun Aliyeva. The journalist was fired from her job due to critical statuses in 2021 on social networks. She has since challenged her dismissal in the courts.

In March-April 2021, the Nasimi Court of Baku did not satisfy her complaint. The appeal filed by Aliyeva was considered in May 2021, and the decision was upheld. In September 2022, the Supreme Court overturned this decision and sent the case back to the Court of Appeal for review.

In October 2022, the Baku Court of Appeal decided to reinstate Aygun Aliyeva and pay her compensation. However, the other party filed a cassation appeal and on January 25, the Supreme Court decided to return the case to the appellate instance.

On February 26, it became known that the decision in favor of the journalist was canceled and uploaded to the electronic judicial system retroactively - on January 25, lawyer Bahruz Bayramov said.

The appeal was filed by the head of "Azertaj", Aslan Aslanov, who dismissed the journalist. Soon he himself was dismissed from his post. "The new head of "Azertaj", Vugar Aliyev, contacted Aygun Aliyeva several times and offered to cancel the order on her dismissal under the article, but he did not agree to reinstate and pay compensation.

The journalist did not insist on restoration, but asked to pay compensation for forced absenteeism in 2.5 years. The head of the agency did not agree to this, saying that he should not pay for the mistake of his predecessor, the lawyer said.

The head of the AZERTAJ news agency, Vugar Aliyev, told Turan: "This is a question that did not arise during my leadership of the agency, it was before me. I also offered her a job, and also offered to cancel the dismissal order, we wanted to achieve peace. But reconciliation did not work out."

The attempts to get a comment from the Supreme Court and from the former head of "Azertaj" were futile, Aslan Aslanov.

According to Turan at the Clinical Medical Center No. 1, at present, Aygun Aliyeva's condition is satisfactory, there is no threat to her life.

Aygun Aliyeva's problems began after she published a status criticizing the activities of municipalities. She wrote the following phrase in her profile: "Why should I go to vote? They didn't even install one trash can." After that, she was asked to write an explanatory note. "I replied that even the head of state criticizes the activities of municipalities, what's the big deal here? But I was told that this is a requirement of the presidential administration."

On August 3, 2020, Aliyeva was suspended from work. She refused to write a letter of resignation.

"This girl writes anti-state appeals, statuses about the activities of municipalities, we told you about it in January, but you didn't fire her, and now you have to fire her," a representative of the presidential administration allegedly told the leadership of "Azertaj". After refusing to write a statement, she was fired for non-performance of duties.

The journalist appealed to the Nasimi district Court, which did not satisfy the claim. "The court openly stated that one of the reasons why I was suspended from work is my Facebook statuses. At the trial, I was told that I was writing anti-state articles. So, in a letter to the court, the agency's management indicated that the order for my dismissal was given from the presidential administration. --02D---