On May 1 the Baku Grave Crimes Court held another closed hearing on the case of Tolishy Sado newspaper editor Hilal Mammadov. Judge Azer Orujov presided over the hearing. After the proceeding, journalist’s lawyer Khalid Bagirov told IRFS that at today’s hearing the panel discussed the petitions filed by Mammadov at the previous hearing.
“At previous hearing Hilal Mammadov requested the judge to invite Interior Minister Ramil Usubov and Prosecutor General Zakir Garalov, and question them as witnesses. In response to this petition, the public prosecutor said it was inadmissible to require that they attend the trial, and the motion was denied. We then requested the court to consider the petition that we filed at January 30 hearing, but the court couldn’t find it in the case file. Then we presented the copy of that petition and the consideration of this petition was postponed until the next hearing” said the lawyer.
The next hearing on the journalist’s case is scheduled for May 8, 10:30am.
Background: Journalist Hilal Mammadov is charged with illegal possession of drugs in large quantities (Article 234.4.3/Criminal Code), treason (Article 274/Criminal Code), and incitement of national, racial, social and religious hatred, hostility and ethnic discrimination (Article 283/Criminal Code).