In Baku, Avaz Zeinalov, editor-in-chief of "Khural", sentenced to nine years in prison

Today, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes has announced the conviction to the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Khural" Avaz Zeinalov. Azerbaijani human rights activists have already called Zeinalov a political prisoner.

Judge Ramella Allakhverdiyeva has sentenced Zeinalov to nine years in prison, finding him guilty under Articles 213.1 (evasion of taxes and compulsory social payments in large volume), 306 (non-fulfilment of sentence, ruling or other act of the court), 311.3.3 (a large bribe-taking) and 311.4 (extortion by threats) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.

The judge read out the verdict in a packed hall in the presence of about 50 people. Apart of Zeinalov's family and colleagues, the trial was attended by numerous representatives of the democratic community of Azerbaijan.

Malakhat Zeinalova, the wife of the convict, sat down in protest during the reading out of the verdict. In response to the remark of supervisors to stand up, because it's contempt of the court, Zeinalova retorted that "the unfair court deserves no respect." She kept sitting till the end of the session.

The courtroom met the verdict protest shouting "Freedom!"

Avaz Zeinalov himself was calm, but treated the verdict as "the authorities' revenge." At the same time, he urged the audience to be calm, saying that "all will be well."

The lawyer Elchin Sadygov has treated the verdict as "biased, unfair, illegal, absurd and harsh." He said that the verdict will be appealed against.