Court cancels verdict to Azerbaijani journalist Anar Mamedov

The Court of Appeal (CoA) has overturned the conviction of Anar Mamedov, editor-in-chief of the "Criminal.az" website, and sent the case for reconsideration.

The lawsuit against Mamedov was brought forward by Malakhat Gurbanova, the owner of the "Lombard N:1" Company. She accused him of libel and insult because of the articles that dealt with the Gurbanova's litigation versus the former minister of labour. On June 17, the court sentenced Mamedov to one year of correctional works.

Elchin Sadygov, the journalist's advocate, has noted that "the punishment of a journalist for the publications that fit into the freedom of expression guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would inevitably be recognized as unlawful by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)."

The advocate has also treated the first-instance court ruling as illogical. "The titles of the articles indicated the scope of the entrepreneur's activities. There is nothing offensive in this. The lombard activity is a type of entrepreneurship permitted by the law," Mr Sadygov has explained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Mamedov had been persecuted more than once before. On March 18, 2019, he was sentenced to 5.5 years of conditional imprisonment on charges of public appeals against the state and abuse of powers.