On April 11th, Baku Appeals Court heard Yeni Musavat newspaper’s appeal against the 18 November 2011 decision by Sabail District Court on the newspaper’s lawsuit against the Ministry of Defense, the newspaper’s lawyer Vagif Huseyn reported to IRFS. The appeal was not granted.
The lawsuit was brought following a statement last September by the Ministry of Defense Ministry regarding an article titled "Turkish students are hurt at military school." In it the Ministry claimed that the article had been published by Yeni Musavat newspaper on behalf of the Turkish Embassy and Anadolu Agency. The newspaper denied ever publishing the article, and case materials suggest that neither the Turkish embassy nor Anadolu Agency ever issued such a statement. The newspaper claims that the Defense Ministry is trying to discredit the newspaper, and appealed to Sabail District Court, demanding 50 000 AZN in damages.