29 August 2003, 14:00
Court acquitted oppositionist
The Court of Appeal demanded that former Interior Minister Abdulla Allakhverdiev should prove that Azerbaijan National Independence Party (ANIP) Chairman Etibar Mamedov, one of the presidential contenders for the election lieing ahead in October, was making for the Armenian occupation of the Lachinsky region of Azerbaijan or refute his words in the next issue of the Palitra newspaper.
The ANIP members believe the suit against Allakhverdiev was half-satisfied as the Court did not answer the requirement of Mamedov's solicitors to sentence Nasiminsky Regional Court Judge Gulnara Tagizade and the Disciplinary Board who considered that "the Palitra's article was not offensive enough in order that Allahverdiev apologized for it".
This April the Palitra newspaper published Allahverdiev's article in which he accused Mamedov of helping the Armenian occupation of the Lachinsky region. A journalist asked him whether he was going to refute his accusation against Mamedov. The former minister answered then he was ready to prove his rightness in court.
Source: Bilik Duniyasi Agency (Azerbaijan)
