In Azerbaijan, criminal investigation against editor-in-chief of newspaper "Khural" completed

Department for Combating Corruption under General Prosecutor of Azerbaijan has completed the criminal investigation against Avaz Zeinalov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural", who was arrested last October on charges of bribery.

Elchin Sadygov, the journalist's lawyer, informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on April 16, investigators took final testimony of Avaz Zeinalov and filed the final charges against him. After Avaz Zeinalov and his lawyer read the content of the indictment, it will be brought to court. Earlier, on April 12, the Nizami District Court of Baku decided to extent the period of Avaz Zeinalov's arrest till May 20.

Avaz Zeinalov was arrested on October 28, 2011, on suspicion of taking a bribe in a large amount on the basis of the complaint lodged by MP Guylar Akhmadova. Apart from Ms Akhmadova, three other persons lodged to the Department for Combating Corruption complaints on bribing the journalist. Avaz Zeinalov faced charges under Articles 311.3.3 (bribery in large amounts) and Article 311.4 (extortion by threats) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

However, according to Elchin Sadygov, apart from the above Articles, the investigators filed charges against Avaz Zeinalov under two other Articles: 306 (failure to satisfy verdict, decision or other act of a court) and 213.1 (evasion from payments of taxes and compulsory social payments in a significant amount) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. In case, if his guilt is proven, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural" will face a sentence of up to 12 years of imprisonment.

The lawyer Sadygov treats all the charges as unfounded. "The investigators failed to present any evidence of Avaz Zeinalov's guilt. No fact of bribery was proven. No fact of extortion was evidenced. All charges are based on unsubstantiated allegations made by the persons, who lodged complaints on Zeinalov," he believes.

As far as the charges of failure to satisfy judicial decision, then, according to the lawyer, courts imposed large fines on the newspaper "Khural" and Avaz Zeinalov, and the edition office and the journalist had not enough money to pay the fines. "On the other hand," Elchin Sadygov said. "All the property belonging to the edition office computers and office furniture has been confiscated already, and it is unlawful to institute also criminal proceedings against the journalist."

Avaz Zeinalov and his defence also reject the charge of tax evasion. As a result of audits of the newspaper, conducted in 2011, tax authorities revealed tax underpayment in the amount of 7251 manats (about 8700 US dollars). However, according to a staff member of the newspaper "Khural" and a member of the group of preventive journalistic response, which is conducting its own investigation into the cases against Avaz Zeinalov and Afgan Mukhtarly, tax debt was assessed improperly.

Apart from the tax debt, court imposed on the newspaper a fine of 3625 manats (about 4386 US dollars) for violation of tax laws. However, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural", who is kept at SIZO (pre-trial prison), does not agree with the demands of tax authorities, and he filed a law suit against the Ministry of Taxes.

Immediately after the arrest of the property belonging to the newspaper, Elchin Sadygov claimed that Avaz Zeinalov was persecuted for his criticizing the authorities. On this January 11, members of the "Group of preventive response" declared political background of the case against the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural".

Let us remind you, human rights organizations come out for the defence of Avaz Zeinalov. In particular, the "Reporters Without Borders" demanded to immediately release Avaz Zeinalov and condemned the decision of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the decision of the first instance court on the arrest of the journalist. And "Committee to Protect Journalists" (CPJ), based in the USA, expressed its concern about the persecution and imprisonment of Avaz Zeinalov and called on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release him.