Terms of arrests of three more defendants in "Toplum TV case" extended

On July 4, the Khatai district court considered the petitions and submissions of the investigation to extend the terms of pretrial detention for three months – until October 6 to three more defendants in the “Toplum TV” case.

The court extended the terms of detention of Akif Gurbanov, the head of the Institute of Democratic Initiatives (IDI) and the “Platform of the Third Republic”, Ruslan Izzetli, an IDI activist and a member of the board of the “Platform of the Third Republic”, and Mushfig Jabbar, a “Toplum TV” journalist, arrested in this case. This was reported to by their lawyers. They considered the court’s decisions to be unjustified and intend to file appeals.

The day before, the terms of arrest of the other 4 defendants in this case – Alesker Mammadli, Ali Zeynal, Ilkin Amrakhov and Ramil Babayev – were extended for 3 months.

*On March 6-8, 9 employees of “Toplum TV” and its partner organization, the Institute of Democratic Initiatives, were detained. They were accused of smuggling foreign currency. Seven people were arrested and two placed under police supervision. Human rights activists have recognized the defendants in this case as political prisoners, and international organizations have called for their release.