24 January 2020, 17:03
Case against Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov to be considered by court
A preparatory court hearing in a case against Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov is scheduled for February 3. The journalist denies charges of high treason and threat of murder and will seek the acquittal, an advocate reports.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in June 2019, Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of the online editions "Xeberman.com" and "Press-az.com", was arrested on suspicion of espionage. On December 24, he was accused of threatening to kill or cause grievous bodily harm to a person. A spouse of the journalist pointed out to the President of Azerbaijan the political motive of the case and asked to stop the criminal prosecution of her husband.
"There is no reliable evidence of my husband's guilt in the case ... Investigators accuse him of espionage and transfer of information related to state secrets to the Iranian secret services," Gyulmira Aslanova said.
According to the woman, her husband believes that he was arrested "in retaliation for posting materials about extortion of bribes by law enforcers."
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 24, 2020 at 12:02 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
Author: Faik Medjid Source: CK correspondent