Today, 16 January, in the Sabail District Court, under the chairmanship of judge Nuraddin Babayev, a court hearing was held on the lawsuit (“To consider inactivity of High ranking Official Illegal”) of the head of the Center for Assistance to Free Economy Zohrab Ismayil against the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR).
Ismayil and his authorized representative Fariz Mammadov participated as the plaintiffs and Shain Ismayilov participated on behalf of the defendant.
Z. Ismayil asked the judge to issue a decision to consider the lack of response from SOCAR to the information inquiry illegal. “SOCAR is a legal person to fulfill public functions and its activity should be open to the public,” he said.
SOCAR representative Shahin Ismayilov said the opinions of the plaintiff were unfounded and asked that the lawsuit not be fulfilled.
After listening to both sides, the judge scheduled the hearing for 19 January at 3:00 p.m. Although neither the plaintiff nor the defendant objected to the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety’s appeal to take photos and film during the hearing, the judge did not allow this and gave no justification.