Journalist Ali Zeynal, arrested within the ‘Toplum TV’ case, was subjected to bodily pressures within the Baku Courtroom of Attraction constructing on 10 October, his lawyer Fariz Namazly mentioned.
Recall that Zeynal was dropped at the courtroom at 11.00 am and was held in handcuffs and standing on his ft for 1.5 hours earlier than the listening to of his attraction in opposition to the extension of his arrest.
The journalist’s colleagues imagine that such remedy was revenge for his speech on the earlier courtroom session on 3 October, when he mentioned he was arrested on ‘Ilham Aliyev’s order’ and didn’t anticipate ‘justice’ from the courtroom.
The day earlier than, the Baku Courtroom of Attraction rejected Ali Zeynal’s attraction in opposition to the extension of his arrest, in addition to the defendants within the case of ‘Toplum TV’: journalists Mushfig Jabbar, activists Akif Gurbanov, Ruslan Izzatli, Ramil Babayev and Ilkin Amrakhov.
*On 6-8 March, 9 journalists and activists from ‘Toplum TV’ and its accomplice organisation, the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, have been detained. They have been accused of smuggling international forex. Seven have been arrested and two positioned below police supervision.
On 4 October, the Worldwide Committee to Shield Journalists condemned the extension of arrests in Azerbaijan in latest weeks of 11 journalists from 4 media shops – ‘Abzas Media’, ‘Toplum TV’, ‘Kanal-13’ and ‘Meclis.information’.
