Today (23 July) a court hearing on the lawsuit of “Azadlig” Newspaper correspondent Agil Khalil against Chief prosecutor’s Office, Investigator Ali Guliyev and TV channels (AzTV, Lider, Space and ATV) was conducted in the Yasamal District Court under the chairmanship of Judge Khagani Tagiyev.
Khalil’s defense lawyer Elchin Sadigov spoke and evaluated the video-recording sent to TV channels by the Prosecutor’s Office as intrusion into the journalist’s private life, and insult to his honor and dignity. He said that this action of the Prosecutor’s Office, and the broadcasting of the material on TV channels, are against local and international legislation.
“According to legislation, secret video-recordings may be broadcast in two cases- upon the person’s agreement and the court decision. In this case, there’s neither court decision nor Khalil’s agreement about it. On the contrary, after Khalil stated that the testimonies were received from him forcefully, and after a protocol was written up about this, the video-recording was sent to TV channels and was broadcast,” said Sadigov.
“Space” and “Lider” TV channels’ representatives claimed they didn’t understand the lawsuit and demanded that the plaintiff present the video-recording to the court. Sadigov didn’t object to this, and he put forward a motion to show the footage in the court hall. The judge said the motion will be fulfilled.
The next hearing is now scheduled to take place on 30 July at 5:00 pm.