Azerbaijani journalist Imran Aliyev denies tax debt allegations

In Azerbaijan, the fiscal authorities have charged the arrested head of the Meclis.info website Imran Aliyev with a tax debt. The defense doubted the legitimacy of this claim.

As the "Caucasian Knot" wrote, journalist and head of the Meclis.info website Imran Aliyev was detained on April 18, 2024. He was charged with smuggling. On March 7, it became known that activist Elgiz Gahraman (Gahramanov) also became a defendant in Aliyev's case. He did not admit guilt. Following the investigation, Aliyev and Gahraman were charged under eight criminal articles, including illegal entrepreneurship with large-scale income, legalization of property obtained by criminal means, smuggling as part of an organized group, tax evasion, and document forgery. Aliyev faces up to 12 years in prison.:

At the hearing held on July 15 in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, representatives of the 12th Main Tax Department of the State Tax Service Giyas Mammadov were questioned, Aliyev's lawyer Rasul Jafarov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"The tax officer, presenting a civil claim against Aliyev, reported that he had a debt of 61 thousand manats (about 36 thousand dollars) to the fiscal authorities. Mammadov clarified to the department that this amount does not concern other defendants. The defense asked on the basis of what investigation this debt was calculated? In response, the official said that there was no investigation, and the debt was calculated on the basis of an expert's opinion, which came from the income of similar taxable entities. Imran Aliyev denies having such a debt. We petitioned to summon to court the expert who gave such an opinion so that he could answer our questions. "Unfortunately, the court left the petition unconsidered," the lawyer said.

In addition, three witnesses testified at the trial. Murad Rustambeyli said that he had no business ties with the accused, but was simply friends with Imran Aliyev and Elgiz Gahraman. Shabnem Babayeva worked for the Meclis.info website under a fixed-term contract and paid taxes from the monetary compensation she received. Another witness, Sama Akhmedova, participated in trainings organized by the site. Thus, the testimony of witnesses did not confirm the accusations against Aliyev, lawyer Jafarov summarized.

The father of the site's director, Baghir Aliyev, refused to testify in his son's case, which he has the right to do under the law, the defense lawyer added.

Information about the date of the next court hearing will be provided to the parties later, in turn, the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" was told in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes.

The new wave of repression against the independent press in Azerbaijan is described in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Serial arrests of journalists in Azerbaijan".