Today, 30 January, in the Yasamal District Court, under the chairmanship of Judge Matanat Hajiyeva, a preliminary hearing was held on the court case against the assistant editor-in chief of "Korrupsiya ve Jamiyyat" Journal Mubariz Masimoglu on the basis of criminal case conducted in the Yasamal District Police Department’s Investigation Department under article 221.2 (hooliganism) of the Criminal Code.
During the preliminary hearing, M. Masimoglu stated that the criminal case was conducted unjustly. He noted that the Yasamal District Police Department Chief Mohummet Huseynov, who used to be Shamkir Region Police Department Head, ordered to conduct this case unfairly because of six critical articles published in 2000, in “Babadag” Newspaper, under heading “Shamkir’s Police have the hardest way to make money.”
“Considering all these personal bias, I ask the court to return the criminal case to preliminary investigation under the supervision of the prosecutor. However, I asked for the case to be considered in a different court, not in the Yasamal District Court,” Mubariz Masimoglu told this to the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety.
Judge Matanat Hajiyeva said that the motion will be considered on 4 February at 3:00 p.m. The issues of the case will be investigated and then a decision will be adopted whether to send the case to the preliminary hearing or not, according to Judge Matanat Hajiyeva.
This lawsuit stems from a dispute which happened on a public bus between assistant editor-in chief of "Korrupsiya ve Jamiyyat" Jurnal Mubariz Masimoglu and Maleyka Asadova (note: this is not Azerbaijan's Popular Artist Maleyka Asadova) and Emil Jarchiyev in August of 2008. A lawsuit has been filed against Mubariz Masimoglu under article of hooliganism. According to Mubariz Masimoglu, the lawsuit has been filed at the order of the Yasamal District Police Department Chief Mohubbet Huseynov. The journalist claims that he was not informed that an investigation was carried out and the case was sent to the court.