Today (27 August) a court hearing on the lawsuit filed against the court decision that was issued in connection with the stabbing of "Azadlig" Newspaper journalist Agil Khalil, was supposed to take place in the Baku Appellate Court.
The hearing was postponed because lawyers didn’t participate in the hearing.
The hearing has been rescheduled to take place on 3 September at 3:00 pm.
Sergey Strekalin, was convicted on 15 July 2008 of stabbing "Azadlig" Newspaper correspondent Agil Khalil and for illegal possession of narcotics, and sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment. Strekalin admitted to the stabbing, however local and international human rights activists believe Strekalin is taking the blame to protect people in the government. Strekalin denies accusations regarding narcotics. Therefore he filed an appeal complaint.
A.Khalil has openly stated that he was not stabbed by Strekalin, but rather by National Security Ministry employees, and has also filed an appeal against the court’s verdict.