Rahim Hajiyev, first deputy editor-in-chief of Azadliq newspaper, has been interrogated by the Serious Crimes Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office for the second time, as reported by Hajiyev himself on 29 December.
Hajiyev was questioned by investigator Anar Damirchiyev. “For one hour, I answered the investigator’s questions regarding the case of Azadliq newspaper’s finance director Faig Amirli, and the activity of Azadliq newspaper,” the deputy editor said.
Rahim Hajiyev was released after the interrogation.
Azadliq’s first deputy chief editor was also summoned by the Serious Crimes Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office in September 2016. He was invited and questioned as a witness in the criminal case launched against Azadliq newspaper’s arrested finance director Faig Amirli.
Faig Amirli was arrested on 20 August 2016. He was charged under Article 283-2 (instigation of ethnic, racial and religious hostility) of the Criminal Code. On 22 August, an additional criminal charge was brought against him under Article 168.1 (violating public order or harming the health of citizens under the pretext of disseminating religious faiths and performing religious rites) of the Criminal Code. The investigative agency has depicted him as an imam of the Hizmet movement of the supporters of Fetullah Gulen, a US-based Muslim cleric who is accused of masterminding the failed coup attempt in Turkey on 15 July 2016.