Defence treats verdict to lawyer Ilham Aslanoglu as unlawful

Ilham Aslanoglu was unlawfully found guilty of libel, as he didn't express his position, but was only the presenter of the programme, in which the accusations were spoken out, the advocate has commented on the verdict.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 28, Ilham Aslanoglu was sentenced to five months of arrest on charges of slander. Activists believe that he is being persecuted for exposing the crimes committed by militaries against their colleagues as part of the so-called "Terter" case.

Ilham Aslanoglu, a lawyer, was arrested under a private criminal libel lawsuit lodged by Takhir Guliev, the father of the military serviceman, Vasif Guliev, who perished in the 44-day-long Karabakh war in the fall of 2020, Farkhad Mamedov, the advocate of the arrested lawyer, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent on February 1.

According to the advocate, the claimant saw insults and slander against his son in the programme, broadcast by the "AzerFreedom" TV YouTube channel on October 12, 2021. As noted by the advocate, the programme asserted the involvement of Vasif Guliev in the death of an officer from alleged torture during the inquiry into the "Terter" case.

However, as the advocate has explained, Aslanoglu didn't express his personal position, but was the presenter of the programme. "He didn't express his personal opinion on Vasif Guliev; therefore, he can't respond for the statements made on the air. However, the court ignored the arguments of Ilham Aslanoglu and the defence and passed a guilty verdict. We lodged an appeal complaint. We insist on reviewing the verdict and acquitting my client", said the advocate.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 2, 2022 at 02:35 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.