The court refused to drop the criminal prosecution of Meydan TV journalists

At the first hearing in the Meydan TV case, a Baku court rejected the lawyers' requests to dismiss the criminal case and release the defendants. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for an end to the persecution of critics of the Azerbaijani government.

As the " Caucasian Knot " reported , on December 2 it became known that the Meydan TV case materials had been transferred to the Baku Court of Grave Crimes for consideration .

On December 12, a preparatory hearing for the Meydan TV case was held at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, activist Kamran Mammadli, who observed the trial, told a Caucasian Knot correspondent .

According to him, a large number of guards lined up in front of the glass cage in the courtroom. "Only after the lawyers protested did the guards move away, and we were able to see the arrested journalists," he said.

At the beginning of the hearing, the defendants' background checks were conducted. When the judge addressed Aytaj Tapldyg, she said she was "charged in connection with her journalistic activities." Defendant Natig Javadli said he was proud to have worked for Meydan TV, and his words drew applause from the audience, Mammadli said.

There are simply no journalists left at large; they have all been arrested.

"When the issue of journalists filming was discussed at the hearing, the prosecutor said there had been no complaints from the press. In this regard, Nurlan Gakhramanli said, 'Of course, there are simply no journalists left at large; they've all been arrested,'" Mammadli noted.

Serial arrests of journalists in Azerbaijan

Journalists from other media outlets, including Abzas Media, Toplum TV, and Kanal-13, have also been persecuted in Azerbaijan. On June 20, journalists and employees of Abzas Media were sentenced to prison  terms ranging from 7.5 to 9 years. They denied the charges in court, emphasizing that they were being persecuted for their professional activities and for investigating corruption.

Then, according to him, the lawyers petitioned to have the criminal case dismissed, and if that was denied, to transfer the defendants to house arrest. However, both petitions were denied.

The defense convinced the court to soften the situation of those arrested

At the same time, the court granted a motion to allow the defendants to sit next to their lawyers during the trial. "Starting the next hearing, the arrested journalists will sit next to their lawyers, not in a glass cage. Only Ulviyya Ali was allowed to sit next to her lawyer today, as she felt ill in the cage due to lack of air," Kamran Mammadli said.

In addition, the court granted the defense's motion to transfer Natig Javadli, Ramin Deko (Jabrailzade) and Ulvi Tairov from Shuvelan Pre-trial Detention Center No. 3 to the more modern Baku Pre-trial Detention Center.

"A positive development was the approval of the petition to lift the de facto ban on registering my marriage with Aytaj Tapdyg and allowing us to visit in the pretrial detention center. The court decided to send a letter to the pretrial detention center to ensure the conditions for registering our marriage and allowing us to visit," Mammadli said.

Ainur Elgunesh's lawyer, Elchin Sadygov, confirmed to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the defense's motions to dismiss the criminal case and transfer the accused to house arrest were not granted.

"The charges are not based on credible evidence. Unfortunately, the court denied the motion to transfer her to house arrest, even for my client, who has limited physical abilities and is classified as disabled," Sadygov said.

Khayali Agaeva's lawyer, Nazim Musayev, added that the hearing on the merits is scheduled for December 22.

A court employee confirmed the information about the recent hearing to a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Human rights activists demanded the release of journalists

The International Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Azerbaijan to drop all charges against 12 Meydan TV journalists and release them.

Authorities must immediately release all those detained in the Meydan case.

"The sad sight of 11 journalists and a respected journalism professor on trial in the case against the award-winning Meydan TV only underscores the scale and unjustification of Azerbaijan's crackdown on the independent press. Azerbaijani authorities must immediately release all those detained in the Meydan case, as well as all other media workers who have suffered from this horrific crackdown," CPJ Europe and Central Asia Program Coordinator Gulnoza Said said in a statement translated into Russian by a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

Meydan TV journalists are among at least 24 journalists arrested in Azerbaijan "in retaliation for their work," CPJ said in a statement.

"The arrests come amid worsening relations with the West and a crackdown on civil society and the political opposition following Azerbaijan's military recapture of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in late 2023. Authorities have also sharply restricted the activities of foreign media and charged leading exiled journalists with serious crimes in absentia," the statement said.

As a reminder, the trial of seven bloggers and journalists living abroad began in Baku on November 22. The authorities are using this method to intimidate the political émigrés , force them to tone down their criticism, and discredit them in the eyes of the Azerbaijani public as "criminals," according to blogger Tural Sadigli, one of the defendants.

The number of political prisoners in Azerbaijan reached its highest level in 2024 since the country's 23-year membership in the Council of Europe, according to the Caucasian Knot report " Key Points on the Record Number of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan ." However, Azerbaijani authorities  deny the existence  of political prisoners in the country.