On July 18 the Baku Court of Appeals under presiding judge Etibar Huseynov rejected the appeal of Khayal TV executive director Vugar Gonagov and editor Zaur Guliyev against July 11, 2012 decision of Nasimi District Court, Turan Information Agency reports.
According to the report, lawyer Elchin Sadigov said the criminal case materials will be submitted to the court in three stages: the case of the journalists, and the cases of those charged under Article 186 of the Criminal Code (delibertae demolition of property) and those charged under Article 233 (organizing of public disorder) will be submitted separately.
On July 11th Nasimi District Court extended the pre-trial detention of Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev for two months, until September 17th.
After the online dissemination of a video in which Rauf Habibov (then chief of Guba Executive Power) insulted Guba citizens, there was a riot in Guba on March 1st. The citizens set Habibov’s house on fire and there were clashes between people and the police. After the protests president Ilham Aliyev dismissed Rauf Habibov from his post. On March 13th Vugar Gonagov and Zaur Guliyev were arrested and each was sentenced to 2 months in jail.
Vugar Gonagov was forced by the investigator to reject his lawyer.