Heydər Oğuz

Heydər Oğuz

Baku/22.07.23/Turan: On July 21, the trial of the chief editor of the site, which had been going on since the beginning of the year, ended in the Surakhani District Court ovqat.com Heydar Oguz, on the basis of a complaint filed as a private criminal charge by a member of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic TV and Radio Council, Sara Azimova.

The private prosecutor was dissatisfied with Oguz's comment on her post on social networks and demanded that the journalist be brought to criminal responsibility for insult and slander. According to Oguz, she had a long-standing conflict with Asimova, which was connected with his criticism of the former head of the NAR Vasif Talibov.

According to Oguz, because of his criticism of Talybov, he was attacked by trolls, behind whom, as he believes, Asimova stood. The essence of the litigation was mutual accusations of links with terrorists.

In the end, the court cleared Oguz of the charge under Article 148 (insult) and sentenced him under Article 147 (slander) of the Criminal Code to 6 months of correctional labor.

Commenting on this court decision, the head of the Media Rights Group Khalid Agaliyev recalled that the European Court of Human Rights recognized violations of freedom of expression in the criminal prosecution of journalists for their publications and expressions and obliged the government to change the legislation.

In particular, the ECHR in its decisions has repeatedly reiterated the need to abolish criminal penalties in Azerbaijan for defamation. Nevertheless, the courts of Azerbaijan will continue reactionary practice in defamation cases, ruling against journalists on the claims of officials.

Each such court decision contributes to the intimidation of journalists in order to silence them, Agaliyev said.

He expressed the hope that the higher court will cancel the decision that contradicts freedom of expression and in general the reactionary judicial practice in defamation cases will soon be canceled. ---06B---

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