The defense asked the court to acquit Avaz Zeynalli and Elnur Shukurov

The trial in the case of Avaz Zeynalli, the head of the “Khural TV” Internet resource, and Elnur Shukurov, the head of the “Sada TV” YouTube channel, continued in the Baku Court of Serious Crimes on Friday. The lawyers made their closing remarks today. According to lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, the defense asked to dismiss the criminal case.

"We believe that there is no corpus delicti in the actions of both Avaz Zeynalli and Elnur Shukurov. Therefore, the case should be dismissed on exculpatory grounds," the lawyer said. The next meeting is scheduled for February 9th.

A week ago, the prosecutor asked the court to find Zeynalli guilty under Article 311 (taking a bribe) and Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trading authority) of the Criminal Code and sentence him to 10 years in prison. The prosecutor proposed to convict Shukurov under Article 312-1.1 to five years in prison.

* Lawyer Elchin Sadigov and founder of the “Khural TV” website Avaz Zeynalli were detained on September 10 on suspicion of accepting a bribe, and on September 11, the court arrested both. According to the investigation, Zeynalli, through the mediation of Sadygov, received money from the family of the arrested businessman Rasim Mammadov in order not to publish defamatory information about him.

On September 17, the Baku Court of Appeal transferred Sadigov to house arrest, separating his case into a separate proceeding. Later,  Zeynalli was charged under the  Article 312-1.1 (Illegal influence on the decision of an official (trafficking in authority) of the Criminal Code. Shukurov was also arrested on the same charge.