23:53, 6 July 2007

Azerbaijan upholds the verdict to journalists who abused Prophet Mohammed

Today in Azerbaijan, the Appeal Court has considered the complaint of Samir Sadatoglu, editor-in-chief of the "Sanat" (Culture) newspaper, and publicist Rafik Tagi. The Court has upheld the verdict passed by the Sabail District Court this May on Rafik Tagi's three years' and Samir Sadatoglu's four years' imprisonment.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports that today's session has passed without the defendants: they were not delivered to the courtroom for safety reasons, since today, like yesterday, a group of believers has committed disorders right in the court premises. They accused the defendants of "godlessness," and called their advocate Isakhan Ashurov to be a "devil." The latter has informed that he will file a cassation complaint against the decision of the Appeal Court.

We remind you that the reason of the trial was the article "Europe and We," published last November by the "Sanat" newspaper. The article contained impartial statements on Prophet Mohammed and on superiority of Christian values over the Islamic ones.

Author: Zaur Rasulzade, CK correspondent