The appeal of Hafiz Babali

To the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev

Copy: To the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Vilayat Eyvazov

Copy: To the Commissioner for Human Rights (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Sabina Aliyeva

From Babali Hafiz Arkoyun oglu, arrested innocent, laureate of the "Free Media Award" international award (2019), awarded the title of "Hero of the Caucasus 2019", who is detained in the Baku Detention Center.

Registration Address: AZ 5000, Sumgayit city, block 16, house 27/16, apartment 1

PETITION

Mr. President,

On the basis of a false accusation, according to Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan, by the presentation of the Baku City Chief Police Department and the decision of the Khatai District Court of Baku City, detention on remand was chosen as a preventive measure against me, H. A. Babali, who was born on 09.09.1971, who is a resident of Sumgayit city, who has higher education, who is economy editor of Turan News Agency, who is married, and who is 3rd group visually impaired. I learned about the fabricated information about currency smuggling contained in the indictment only when I was illegally detained.

There is no evidence of the circumstances in the disposition of the mentioned article, as well as the accusations brought against me, and there cannot be any evidence.

So, I am not a participant in any stage of the alleged currency smuggling during the years 2022-2023 mentioned in the criminal case.

• Since November 2019, I have not crossed the AR state borders;
• I have not participated in any way and status in the planning, organization, illegal crossing of the border, reception and distribution of importing foreign currency as contraband;
• I have no affiliation with a group that colluded with other people in advance as stated in my indictment;
• I know two of the persons mentioned in the criminal case (U. Hasanli, S. Abbasova) as journalists. I was not aware of their alleged intention to bring foreign currency to the country outside of customs control, I did not have a conversation with them about it;
• I had no criminal agreement with anyone, and the function imposed on me in this alleged fictitious agreement does not exist;
• I am the author of 6 (six) journalistic studies published on the abzas.net website. I did not hide this from the public or the investigative body;
• There is no material evidence against me regarding the accusation of obtaining a large amount of income by participating in various financial transactions. If we take into account that "considerable amount" means 50,000-200,000 manats, then this accusation is ridiculous, a white lie, and slander;
• Going to the editorial office 4 (four) times for the purpose of editing the articles I submitted to Abzas Media cannot, in any case, be described as working together with the accused persons in the criminal case;
• It is the inexperience and inconsistency of the investigation to present the journalist's obtaining (opportunity to obtain) allowances by writing articles as "the goal of obtaining illegal income with greedy intent";
• The foreign currency wealth allegedly discovered on November 20, 2023, at the address specified in the criminal case has nothing to do with me;

Thus, as can be seen, the charges brought against me by the investigative body have no legal grounds, neither individually nor collectively;

Mr. President, I am sure that my arrest is related to my journalistic activities. This is confirmed by the decisions of the Baku City Chief Police Department on my petitions dated December 14, 2023. In the decision dated 14.12.2023 "On the consideration of petitions" (page 2, paragraph 5), it is stated that "H. Babali regularly contacted group members U. Hasanov and S. Abbasova, went to the office where they worked together, prepared materials for money based on their instructions. In that decision (page 2, paragraph 8), it is also stated that my involvement in criminal liability is not related to my public activity. However, since 1992, I have been engaged in professional journalistic activities continuously. I am known in society as an expert and a public figure. In this decision, as well as in another decision of the same date (on the consideration of petitions), it is falsely stated that I smuggled foreign currency funds into the country in a group that colluded with other people in advance.

Mr. President, I am a citizen who loves his country as much as you do and respects every letter of the law. My journalist credo is objectivity, impartiality, and truthfulness. So far, I am the author of more than 200 large and small independent journalistic studies. Official entrepreneurship, looting of the state budget, laundering of dirty money inside and outside the country, etc. are the main topics of my investigations. These research articles were published in Turan News Agency, Azadlig Radio, Meydan TV, Sancaq Media, Open Azerbaijan, Abzas Media, as well as Open Media Hub, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty international media resources. No lawsuit was filed against me for slander and other accusations based on those revealing investigative materials.

If greed had been at the core of my cooperation with Abzas Media, I would agree to tempting offers to stop investigative journalism for a considerable amount of money.

Mr. President, I am not a criminal, and journalism is not a crime either. One of the principles that guided me in my activity was your request to inform the public and journalists about the illegal actions of some officials. I also evaluated the punishment of some officials who were dismissed and arrested as a positive outcome of my investigations.

Dear President, taking into account what I wrote, I ask you to take the criminal case against me under personal control and give an order to stop the prosecution against me.

Sincerely, Hafiz Babaly