The prison terms of Elnara Gasimova and Farid Mehralizade have been extended
The journalist who was arrested today in the Khatai District Court in connection with the “AbzasMedia case”. Elnara Gasimovaof and economist Farid Mehralizadehthe period of detention has been extended.
Defense parties informed RFE/RL about this.
We are talking about the extension of the pretrial detention measure until the court investigation.
E. Gasimova’s prison term was extended to November 13, and F. Mehralizade’s to December 19.
In this regard, the presentation of the investigative body was provided.
Their prison term ended on September 20.
F. Mehralizadeh was arrested on June 1. E. Gasimova was arrested on January 15 this year. His prison term was extended before that.
They were initially charged with Article 206.3.2 (group smuggling) of the Criminal Code. Later, the charges were aggravated. Additional charges relate to illegal entrepreneurship with large profits, as well as organized gang smuggling, tax evasion, document forgery and use of false documents.
They can be sentenced to 8 years in prison on the former charge, and up to 12 years on the later charges. They do not accept the charge.
In addition to them, several other people arrested in this case have also been charged.
Lawyer Javad JavadovAccording to what he told RFE/RL, F. Mehralizadeh said in court that he had nothing to do with this case at all. It is likely that his imprisonment is related to his critical speeches and writings based on numerous economic analyses.
E. Gasimova’s lawyer Gunay IsmayilovaAccording to him, he also explained his arrest with his journalistic activities.
Starting from November last year, about 20 journalists and social activists were arrested in groups in Azerbaijan on charges of smuggling. At first, most of them were related to the “AbzasMedia case”. In that case, the site’s director Ulvi Hasanli, employee Mahammad Kekalov, and editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifqizi were arrested. Later, the arrests related to this case continued with journalists Hafiz Babaly, Nargiz Absalamova and others. But they do not agree with the accusation, explaining it with professional activities and political order.
According to the lists prepared by local human rights organizations, there are currently 250-300 political prisoners in Azerbaijani prisons.
Officials, as a rule, emphasize that no one in the country is arrested for political reasons just related to professional activity.