
According to the indictment, in 1998 N. Mammadov became the chief editor of “Talyshi Sado” Newspaper, and under the guise of promoting sports, he actually was promoting the Talysh. In addition, with the goal of creating an administrative autonomy for the Talysh, N. Mammadov gathered information, determined people in the security services of foreign countries who had necessary information and provided these people with information, and appealed to international organizations about the violations of the Talysh people’s rights, which contributed the formation of a negative image about Azerbaijan and the putting of pressure on Azerbaijan by international organizations. He found students interested in studying religion and sent them to study aboard, appealed to Public TV for programming in the Talysh language, opened the Talysh Culture Center and submitted papers to the Ministry of Justice trying to get Talysh Sado Newspaper registered. He also appealed to foreign language professors, carried out intelligence-like information requests, and tried to get people of Talysh ethnicity jobs in executive and legislative so he could use them later.
R. Mammedov said that the decision to conduct a closed court trial for N. Mammadov was completely unfounded. The real reason for this was to conceal from the public falsifications by the Ministry of National Security and the court. He said it is reasonable to conclude from the verdict that all of the witnesses’ testimony was completely falsified. An appeals court complaint will be filed soon R. Mammadov said. The lawyer stated that the hearing was held close without any evidence. The main reason of this was to hide forgery of NSM and court. The lawyer also stated that the decision adopted by the court shows that testimonies given by witnesses on N.Mammadov’s favor have been completely falsified. In the end the lawyer said that they will file an appeal from this decision.
*Novruzali Mammadov, Hilal Mammadov and Ramiz Mammadov are not related to each other.