Deputy defense minister and lieutenant general Chingiz Mammadov has filed a defamation lawsuit against Azadliq newspaper, deputy editor of the newspaper Rahim Hajiyev told the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS) on April 30. Hajiyev said that Azadliq newspaper and its employee Khagani Aliyev are shown are defendants in the lawsuit.
According to the plaintiff, in his article titled “Army or a place for trade in human lives?” and published in 20-24 March 2013 edition of Azadliq newspaper, journalist Khagani Aliyev published untrue and libelous information about the Ministry of Defense, thus damaging the reputation of the Ministry and honor and dignity of Ministry officials. The deputy minister requires that the newspaper provide retraction and pay 100,000 AZN in compensation and transfer this money into the account of Armed Forces Assistance Fund.