Today the preliminary hearing in the Binagedi Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Sevinj Ismayilova, on "Muasir Musavat" Newspaper Chairman Hafiz Hajiyev's lawsuit against "Yeni Musavat" Newspaper and correspondent Jahangir was postponed.
Hajiyev's lawyer Shahin Hajiyev told this to the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety. Hajiyev said, "The hearing was postponed because we introduced a new complaint. In the new complaint we demand that a criminal case be instituted on the basis of Criminal Code articles 147 (libel) and 148 (defamation)." The time for the new preliminary hearing is still unknown.
Recall that H. Hajiyev's lawsuit stems from the article "Fish Hafiz's son-in-law arrested," with the subtitle "He is accused of taking a bribe from Sashko Tadorovsky," which was run in the 25 December 2007 edition of "Yeni Musavat" Newspaper. In H. Hajiyev's original lawsuit, the political party chairman was seeking an apology, and the institution of a 20,000 AZN fine for moral damages. "Yeni Musavat" Newspaper's Deputy Chief Editor Azer Aykhan and author of the abovementioned article Jahangir were shown as the defendants.