The arrested head of the website appealed to the Prosecutor General

Baku/21.07.2020/Turan: The head of the “Reallig.info” website Ikram Rahimoglu, arrested in 2018, addressed an appeal to the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan, Kamran Aliyev.

In his appeal, I. Rahimoglu first brought to the attention of the country's prosecutor the reasons for his arrest in 2018.

According to him, on October 26, 2018, an article entitled “An open letter to Ali Hasanov - I could not put myself in your place” was published on the website where he was the editor-in-chief (meaning Ali Hasanov, a former aide to the President on socio-political affairs – ed.). After that, he was detained by the State Security Service (SSS). By the way, the editor-in-chief also called the detention illegal: “After refusing to remove the article from the website, a criminal case was filed against me. I was sentenced to 3 years in prison by an illegal court decision. At present, my rights are being violated in the Penitentiary No. 10 of the Penitentiary Service based on a false court decision.”

According to the editor-in-chief, it is not a matter of a day or two before the situation leads to arrest, and the reason for the constant pressure and persecution against him is that he publicized Ali Hasanov and his illegal network.

I. Rahimoglu added that he had written articles on the situation in the country's media, the unfairness of assistance to newspapers, corruption and embezzlement in buildings built for journalists.

The editor-in-chief says that because of this, he was persecuted and pressured by A. Hasanov and his entourage. “Access to the website I headed was blocked without a court decision. When they could not achieve their wishes in this way, A. Hasanov invited me to the Presidential Administration, there were various proposals for joint cooperation, and after refusing, the other side warned that I would be arrested.”

In his appeal to the Prosecutor General, I. Rahimoglu said that he did not commit any crime that could lead to his arrest: “In the absence of any crime or conflict, the investigation was carried out on the basis of fake, edited audio recordings. Although the preliminary investigation materials and interrogations during the trials proved my innocence, the judges violated the law by fulfilling the request of the former aide to the President, A. Hasanov, who ordered my arrest.”

The editor-in-chief says that he has repeatedly appealed to the former Prosecutor General (meaning Zakir Garalov – ed.) in this regard, both from the indictment and the court verdict: “Efforts were made to keep the actions of those who caused millions of damage to the state and misappropriated millions of funds by creating obstacles to the publicizing of the illegal network of A. Hasanov,” I. Rahimoglu said.

Afterward, I. Rahimoglu accused A. Hasanov, a former aide to the President, who controlled the country's media, and Vugar Safarli, executive director of the State Support Fund for Mass Media (meaning V. Safarli, former executive director of the State Support Fund for Mass Media – ed.) of embezzling funds allocated to the media and arbitrarily distributing apartments in the buildings built for journalists.

The editor-in-chief points out that not all of the funded newspapers are popular in the country: the list of newspapers supported by A. Hasanov and V. Safarli shows that about 10 newspapers belong to the relatives of these people. Newspapers, which receive 120,000 AZN a year, are printed in 500 copies, and the money is given to these newspapers on the basis of false reports.

According to him, under the leadership of V.Safarli, the apartments in the buildings built for journalists were distributed to the close relatives of A. Hasanov and his network.

According to the editor-in-chief, the Press Council should be held accountable every month for the money it collects from government agencies, as well as SOCAR.

I. Rahimoglu states that a legal assessment should be given to such cases as the illegal financing of some people and the misappropriation of public funds and property through fraudulent means by enumerating the names of some members of the Council.

According to him, the activities of A. Hasanov's "Kaspi Education Center" should be investigated and millions of tax evaded every year should be reported.

According to the editor-in-chief, there is no need for false witnesses or victims to hold A. Hasanov and his entourage accountable or brought to justice. “Bringing persons, due to whom the state was damaged, to justice is the highest duty of the Prosecutor General's Office. I hope that the Prosecutor General's Office will evaluate these actions. Otherwise, impunity and execution of ordered decisions will prevail in this country,” the arrested editor-in-chief concluded his appeal to the Prosecutor General.

Ikram Rahimov, the editor of the “Reallig.info” website, was detained on October 26, 2018, was accused of extorting money and arrested. On June 12, 2019, the court sentenced the journalist to 5.5 years in prison.

The journalist said in court that his arrest was related to Ali Hasanov, the aide to the President of Azerbaijan on socio-political affairs.

“After I published a critical article about Ali Hasanov, the Press Council appealed to the State Security Service and the Prosecutor's Office. This is an unprecedented event in the history of the press. The organization, founded by journalists, wants to arrest the journalist,” he said.

The journalist also said that the grants allocated by European institutions and the funds allocated by the state for the development of the media were distributed among media outlets close to the government official.

A preliminary hearing on Rahimov's case began in the Baku Court of Appeal on August 7. The defense requested solicit to re-investigate the case and re-examine the witnesses and victims due to the falsification of their testimony in the court of the first instance. The advocate also asked for a re-examination of the audio recording of Rahimov's telephone conversations for the same reason. But the solicitations were not granted.

As a sign of protest, Rahimov announced a hunger strike in the courtroom on August 7, and he continued his hunger strike until September 4.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in the United States has demanded that the Azerbaijani authorities end the persecution of journalist Ikram Rahimov and release him immediately.

On September 18, 2019, the Baku Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Rizvan Safarov, reduced the term of imprisonment of Ikram Rahimov, editor of the “Reallig.info” website, from 5.5 to 3 years.-0-