Mustafa Hajibeyli: This is a farce, not a court

Baku / 21.02.19 / Turan: Today"s court decision in the case of basta.info is illegal, said

the editor of this site, Mustafa Hajibeyli, whom the court sentenced to 5 and a half years in prison conditionally. "I should have been acquitted, and the criminal case should be closed for lack of grounds. Neither the investigation, nor his witnesses could presented my guilt, all our petitions were rejected. Most importantly, the investigation did not explain in any way exactly which phrases in our articles are against the law," the editor said. "The decision of the court will be appealed, although we do not expect justice from our courts, then there will be an appeal to other courts and so on until the European Court of Human Rights," he said.

How will this verdict affect his journalistic activities? Answering this question, the editor said that today the Azerbaijani Prosecutor"s Office is actually acting as a censor over the press. A special service has been created in the prosecutor"s office, which is engaged in spying on publications on the Internet and on websites. The authors of all objectionable publications are under pressure and persecuted. They are called and demanded to stop criticism, and criminal cases are initiated against those who do not agree. Similar processes are going against a number of other sites and their authors. "I"m not the only one who faced this kind of pressure. Despite this, I will continue my journalistic activities and the fight for freedom of speech, "the editor said.

* Today, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced the editor of the bastainfo.com website Mustafa Hajibeyli to 5.5 years in prison, finding him guilty under the Articles: 309 (abuse of office), 313 (official forgery) and 281 (calls against the state) of the Criminal Code. -03B-