IRFS also notes that prior to the beginning of today’s hearing, National Security Ministry workers used metal detectors to search every single person seeking to observe the proceeding. Video and still cameras were not permitted into the courtroom, however Dictaphones were allowed. Some representatives from embassies and human rights advocates protested this, but they were also searched.
Recall that, Grave Crimes Court Judge Mehdi Asadov convicted “Realniy Azerbaijan” and “Gundelik Azerbaijan” newspapers’ founder and Editor-in-Chief Eynulla Fatullayev was convicted of threatening terror, inciting national, religious and ethnic hatred and evading taxes and sentenced to 8.5 years of imprisonment.