12:33, 26 August 2008

Supreme Court of Azerbaijan rejects journalist Zakhid's cassation

Today, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has denied the cassation complaint lodged by Ganimat Zakhid, editor-in-chief of the "Azadlyg" (Freedom) oppositional newspaper, who was sentenced to 4 years of imprisonment.

The complaint had been filed against the decision of the Appeal Court of the city of Baku, which upheld the verdict to the journalist of the first instance court. Elchin Sadygov, Zakhid's advocate, said in his conversation with the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the Supreme Court acted formally while considering the complaint, having completely ignored the arguments of the defence.

"This is another demonstration of the political context of Zakhidov's case, which was forged with the aim to punish the journalist for his critical publications," said Mr Sadygov.

He added that a complaint to the European Court for Human Rights will be filed against the decision of the Supreme Court.

Author: Faik Medzhid, CK correspondent