16 August 2017, 16:03
Tax officials seize journalists' data from "Turan" office in Baku
Officials from the Azerbaijani Tax Ministry seized the financial documents, electronic media and personal data of journalists from the news agency "Turan". This was reported by its director.
On August 7, the Department for Preliminary Investigation of Tax Crimes under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes initiated a preliminary investigation into the criminal case against the news agency "Turan". According to Mekhman Aliev, the agency's director, the agency "Turan" is charged with a tax debt in the amount exceeding 37,000 manats (22,000 US dollars). The agency "Turan" has found the tax authorities' actions illegal and filed a complaint to the court.
Today, officials from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes have started an audit at the office of the independent news agency "Turan". The tax officials seized copies of the agency's financial documents for the period starting from 2014, as well as some documents related to records management, personal data of journalists, which they found "interesting", and an accountant's laptop. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Mekhman Aliev, the director for the news agency "Turan".
He believes there was no need to carry out such an audit. "The day before [they] were interested in our preparation of documents for audit, and we informed them that the work was almost complete and we would submit them on August 17," Mekhman Aliev explained.
He has also noted that the agency considers claims for tax evasion to be unjustified and the criminal case "biased, ordered, and directed against the journalists' professional activities."
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
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