Abilov's defense achieved the participation of a translator in the consideration of the lawsuits against the media.

The Yasamal District Court of Baku began hearing the lawsuit of convicted researcher of Talysh culture Iqbal Abilov against four Azerbaijani media outlets for violating the presumption of innocence and defamation. The court granted the defense's request to involve a translator from the Talysh language in the proceedings, while rejecting the request to allow Abilov to sit next to his lawyer. The defendants did not appear at the hearing.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on June 11, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan upheld the sentence against researcher of Talysh culture Iqbal Abilov. The court's refusal to provide a translator from Talysh, as well as the prosecution itself, was called discrimination against the Talysh by Abilov. The defense intends to file a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights.

The court began hearing Abilov's lawsuit against four media outlets

On July 7, a court session was held in the Yasamal District Court of Baku regarding the civil lawsuit filed by researcher Iqbal Abilov, who is currently imprisoned, against the ATV television channel, the Trend news agency, and online publications Hit.az and Qafqazinfo.az.

According to a statement from the Committee for the Protection of Abilov's Rights, the mentioned media outlets published materials on July 25, 2024, that tarnished the honor and dignity of the researcher and violated his presumption of innocence.

In his lawsuit, Abilov demands that these publications be recognized as violations of his rights, that he be granted the right to respond, that official apologies be issued by the media, and that he be compensated for moral damages in the total amount of 6,000 manats (about 3,600 US dollars).

Abilov appeared at the hearing wearing a black T-shirt with a couplet in Talysh from a poem by poet Ali Nasir: "When a people loses its reason, it condemns its homeland to death."

The statement notes that representatives of the defendants — the aforementioned media outlets — did not appear in court.

Meanwhile, Abilov's lawyer Rovshan Ragimov submitted several motions. The defense, in particular, requested that Abilov be allowed to sit next to his defender during the hearing. However, the court did not grant this request.

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In addition, Abilov expressed a desire to speak in Talysh during the proceedings and requested the involvement of a translator. When the judge stated that he could not ensure the participation of a translator fluent in Talysh, the defense proposed appointing their candidate - educator Oktay Askerov Asad oglu. The court granted the request and recognized Askerov as the translator, but he will be able to participate as a translator starting from the next court session, which is scheduled for August 11, as noted in the press release.

Publications in pro-government media aimed to discredit Abilov

On July 25, 2024, several pro-government media outlets in Azerbaijan published a report on Abilov's case without citing a source. They noted that Abilov was detained "as a result of special operational measures carried out by the State Security Service (SSS) of Azerbaijan."

Referring to the materials of the court session, in which a measure of restraint was chosen against Abilov, these media outlets disclosed details of the case.

"During the court proceedings, along with other evidence, 'secret negotiations and transactions conducted by Iqbal Abilov via Skype with the head of the Department of Oriental Studies at Yerevan State University and the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies operating in Armenia, Garnik Asatryan, who is conducting targeted work against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan under the control of the Armenian special services,' were disclosed," the report on the Qafqazinfo.az website stated.

"Reasonable suspicions" arose that Abilov, together with representatives of foreign special services, created an organization "against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan" by attracting subversive forces from different countries, as well as providing them with "assistance to Vardan Voskanyan (Armenian political scientist and Iranologist, - note of 'Caucasian Knot') and other individuals associated with Armenian special services in carrying out hostile activities against Azerbaijan," Trend noted.

"These publications were aimed at discrediting Iqbal Abilov with the goal of forming a negative public opinion about him to justify the arrest of the young researcher on fabricated charges. These claims not only harmed his honor and dignity but also violated the presumption of innocence. For the investigation had just begun, yet he was presented as a person who committed 'crimes.' Moreover, these media outlets did not indicate the source of the information. How could materials from a closed court process appear in the media? In fact, this was a violation of the secrecy of the investigation," said Abilov's public defender, activist Gilal Mamedov, to the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot."

A legal expert called Abilov's right to demand recognition of the violation of his rights and compensation legal.

"Since this is a civil lawsuit, the statute of limitations cannot be discussed. According to the Civil Code of Azerbaijan, the statute of limitations does not apply to claims for the protection of personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits. Therefore, one can go to court with a demand to refute false information that tarnishes honor, dignity, or business reputation, as well as with a demand for the publication of a response in the media, regardless of how much time has passed since the dissemination of such information," the lawyer told the correspondent of "Caucasian Knot" on condition of anonymity.

A staff member of the Yasamal District Court confirmed the information about the hearing on Abilov's lawsuit.

It was not possible to contact officials of the media organizations involved as defendants.