Summary: Hearing 1
- Elchin Sadigov, the lawyer for Journalistic Research Centre (jam.az) news website Editor-in-Chief Fikrat Faramazoglu, filed motions to dismiss his client’s criminal case on exculpatory grounds, or otherwise to replace his pre-trial detention with house arrest. Neither of the motions was granted.
Baku Grave Crimes Court chaired by Judge Eldar Mikayilov held a preliminary hearing on the criminal case of Fikrat Faramazoglu, the Editor-in-Chief of the Journalistic Research Centre (jam.az) news website. Fikrat Faramazoglu was arrested on 30 June 2016, and has been charged under Article 182 (extortion) of the Criminal Code. On 2 July 2016, Narimanov District Court ordered his pre-trial detention.
Judge Eldar Mikayilov first verified the personal information of the accused.
Lawyer’s motions:
Next, the journalist’s lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, filed a motion to discontinue his client’s criminal case on exculpatory grounds. “Fikrat Faramazoglu’s rights were grossly violated during the preliminary investigation. There is no reliable evidence in the case file to prove that he committed the crime. During the investigation phase, we repeatedly filed motions to conduct an examination and to take fingerprints, but they were all denied. For all these reasons, we would like the criminal case to be terminated on exculpatory grounds,” stated the lawyer.
The lawyer lodged another motion requesting the replacement of the journalist’s pre-trial detention with house arrest if the court did not rule to discontinue the case.
Public prosecutor Elgun Gafarov asked the judge to reject the motions, claiming lack of justification.
After a five-minute deliberation, the court announced that the motions were denied.
The trial date was set for 6 December, at 12.00pm.