Trial of Journalist Mustafa Hajibeyli Started

Baku / 11.01.19 / Turan: On January 11, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes chaired by Sabuhi Huseynov held a preparatory meeting on the case of the Bastainfo website editor Mustafa Hajibeyli.

He and his lawyer petitioned for the termination of the criminal proceedings in view of the groundlessness of the charges. Hajibeyli stated that he has been persecuted for half a year now under a political order.

"This is a registered case. I was first attracted as a witness, although the police were sent to our house. At the same time, they took away my phone, computer and documents, and searched for a long time for the crime, but could not find it.

When they didn"t find anything, they brought three women to the case. They allegedly were shocked by my publications," said Hajibeyli.

According to him, this article is a reprint of Turan's material and, according to Article 62 of the law on mass media, the media are not responsible for reprinting material that has not been refuted.

However, the court rejected the petition and scheduled a substantive hearing on January 22.

* On July 9, the Prosecutor General"s Office opened a criminal case on the dissemination to the Internet of "false information" and "illegal appeals" in connection with the attempt on the head of Ganja Elmar Veliyev and the energy blackout in Mingachevir when almost all of Azerbaijan was left without power supply.

After that the prosecutor's office appealed to the Ministry of Communications to block the websites Bastainfo.com, Criminalaz.com", Topxeber.az and Fia.az.

At first, Hajibeyli was a witness. However, on November 30, he was transferred to the status of the accused. He, in particular, was charged under articles of the Criminal Code: 281.2 (appeals against the state), 309.2 (abuse of office) and 313 (official forgery).

Regarding the editor, a preventive measure in the form of police supervision was chosen.

Mustafa Hajibeyli is one of the prominent opposition journalists in Azerbaijan. For more than 20 years he has worked in various media of Azerbaijan. He is also the brother of the head of the Musavat party, Arif Hajili. -16 / 03D-