Mehralizade asked for an acquittal in his cassation appeal.

The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has begun considering the cassation appeal against the sentence of economist Farid Mehralizade, convicted in the case of the online publication Abzas Media. The defendant and his defense have declared his innocence and called for the verdict to be overturned.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," in June 2025, a Baku court found employees of the online publication Abzas Media guilty of economic crimes. The publication's director, Ulvi Hasanli, editor-in-chief Sevinj Vagifgizi, investigative journalist Hafiz Babali, and economist Farid Mehralizade were sentenced to nine years in prison, Nargiz Absalamova and Elnara Gasimova to eight years, and Mohammed Kekalov to seven. The Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.

13:58 November 3, 2025

Journalist Mehralizade, imprisoned in Azerbaijan, has been awarded the 2025 John Aubuchon Press Freedom Award. US Congressman James McGovern called for Mehralizade's release and the dismissal of charges against his wife, activist Nargiz Mukhtarova.

On March 6, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan held a hearing on Farid Mehralizade's cassation appeal. His lawyers, Javad Javadov and Khalid Huseynov, stated in court that there is no evidence that he committed a criminal offense. They asked for Mehralizadeh to be acquitted and the criminal case to be closed, Meydan TV reports.

Farid Mehralizadeh himself also told the court that he denies the charges and requests the case be closed based on the acquittal.

The defense drew the court's attention to the fact that the case file contains no evidence proving Farid Mehralizadeh's collaboration with Abzas Media. According to his lawyers, he only gave interviews to this publication twice as an economic expert and never received payment for it.

Mehralizade's case fits into a trend of persecuting critics of the Azerbaijani authorities

They also They recalled that Mehralizade worked in the banking sector and received a "fairly high salary."

In turn, the convicted man noted that he was not involved in political activity, but only prepared analytical articles on economic topics.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 13. A representative of the State Tax Service and the prosecutor are expected to speak, the publication writes.

As a reminder, it was proven in court that Mehralizade had no connection to Abzas Media, lawyer Javad Javadov previously indicated. This, according to him, was confirmed by the testimony of other defendants, as well as witnesses. “The only ‘evidence’ from the investigation was that, by coincidence, Farid Mehralizade was at an international event abroad at the same time as some of the other defendants, and that he, like the other defendants, was using the Signal messenger,” Javadov said.

The detentions at Meydan TV marked a new round of repression against journalists

Journalists from other media outlets, including Meydan TV and Toplum TV, have also been persecuted in Azerbaijan. and Kanal-13. This can be read in the "Caucasian Knot" report "Serial Arrests of Journalists in Azerbaijan".

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