Zeynalli: Judge and Prosecutor Fail to Bring Gular Ahmedova to Court

 Baku Serious Crimes court continued the trial of the chief editor of "Khural" newspaper, Avaz Zeynalli.  The accused protested that the main complainant against him and the witness, former MP Gular Ahmedova, has not appeared in court. He accused the judge and prosecutor in the failure to bring Ahmedova to court.

The prosecutor asked Zeynalli if he accepted bribes from the companies “Resort” and “Inturavto”. Zeynalli denied the accusations and stated that the charges are based on lies. The prosecutor requested a recess due to health concerns.

After the break, Zeynalli accused the prosecutor of not being familiar with the content of the criminal case, since the prosecutor did not appear to be aware about details of the case. 

Zeynalli also rejected charges of taking bribes from businessman Aydin Heydarov, or from Sabir Tanryverdiev, head of National Statehood Party. He denied charges of tax evasion and enforcement of judgments. The next trial will be held at 14:00 on December 12.

Zeynalli was arrested in October 2011 based on a complaint made by former deputy Gular Ahmedova, who herself later became involved in a fraud case.  The basis of the lawsuit was a video which was placed in Internet by the former rector of Azerbaijan International University, Elshad Abdullaeyev.—06D--