On February 5th the Baku Administrative Economic #1, chaired by Judge Elchin Mammadov, held a hearing on the lawsuit brought by the Gundam Khabar newspaper against the Audit Department of the Ministry of Taxes, chief editor of the newspaper Shirin Jafari reported to the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety. According to Jafari, all the necessary documents have been presented to the court and the next hearing will take place on February 8th, at 4pm.
Background:
After a tax inspection in the office of the Gundam Khabar newspaper in August of 2011, the Audit Department of the Ministry of Taxes stated that the newspaper should pay 68,244 AZN in back taxes. Adding the accrued interest to this amount, now the debt of the newspaper adds up to 133,500 AZN. Gundam Khabar filed a lawsuit with the court to invalidate this debt.