23 February 2019, 11:50
RWB demands to cancel Mustafa Gadjibeili's verdict
The international organization in defence of journalists, "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) has condemned the verdict rendered in Azerbaijan to Mustafa Gadjibeili, the editor-in-chief of the website "Bastainfo.com". The RWB has called on the international community to impose sanctions on those responsible for such severe measures.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Azerbaijani authorities had blocked the website "Bastainfo.com" after the latter covered the assassination attempt on the head of the city of Ganja. On November 30, 2018, Mr Gadjibeili was accused of public appeals against the state, abuse of office and service forgery. On February 21, 2019, the court sentenced him to conditional 5.5 years in prison with a two-year probation period. The journalist is going to continue his professional activities.
Gadjibeili was convicted for the articles that criticized the behaviour of the head of Ganja prior to the attempt, and authorities' non-interference to prevent further violence, says the RWB's statement.
"This absurd conviction is another trick aimed to intimidate those few critical media that still work in Azerbaijan," said Johan Beer, the RWB's head for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 23, 2019 at 08:00 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
