The defendants in the Toplum TV case demanded that the head of the Azerbaijan Customs Committee be questioned in court.

Toplum TV journalists, accused of smuggling and other economic crimes, demanded that the head of the Azerbaijan Customs Committee be summoned to court. The court dismissed the request.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," the activists and journalists arrested in the Toplum TV case, initially accused of currency smuggling, were charged in January with six new criminal offenses. They face up to 12 years in prison. Toplum TV positioned itself as an independent platform for expressing diverse opinions on socio-political and socio-economic events. On February 10, Toplum TV announced the suspension of its operations in Azerbaijan.

The trial of Toplum TV continued today at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. At the beginning of the hearing, Fidan Alijanova and Jamila Azizova, who collaborated with the channel, testified, a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reported.

Both women stated that they were pressured to give testimony during the preliminary investigation and are now retracting it. According to Azizova, the investigator yelled at her and threatened to keep her in police custody until the morning.

Both witnesses stated that their phones had been confiscated and had not yet been returned, and they were not provided with any legal documents regarding the seizure of the devices.

After questioning the witnesses, the defendant Farid Ismailov petitioned to summon the head of the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan (SCC), Shahin Bagirov, to court to comment on the smuggling charges brought against the defendants. Ismailov's petition was supported by the other defendants.

As Ismailov noted, upon returning to Azerbaijan from his last trip abroad, he personally submitted a customs declaration and received a document certifying that he had no large sums of money to import.

"The Customs Committee itself presented the investigation with a document confirming that I had no money or jewelry on me." In that case, it turns out that one of the two government agencies, the police or the State Customs Committee, is not telling the truth. On the other hand, journalists from Toplum TV, Abzas Media, and Meydan TV were accused of smuggling. Let the head of the Customs Committee come here and explain what his employees were looking at if over 20 journalists “smuggled” money into the country—and in that case, for what services he was awarded the “For Service to the Fatherland” medal,” Ismailov said.

Presiding Judge Azer Tagiev rejected the motion, stating that it was “irrelevant” to the case.

Another defendant, Mushvig Jabbar, also expressed disagreement with the prosecution’s case. “All the accusations are false. Even more absurd is the accusation against me that I “illegally issued” salaries. There's not a single piece of evidence about this in the case. And how could I, not being an official, issue salaries? Jabbar said.

In this regard, Judge Taghiyev noted that "the case is still under review" and all issues will be clarified.

"In that case, let us go. When you finish the investigation, call us," retorted the defendant, Ruslan Izzetli, an employee of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives and a member of the founding board of the Third Republic Platform.

Jabbar, in turn, asked the judge why the Sputnik Azerbaijan executives, who had been released under house arrest, were allowed to leave the country. "After all, people under house arrest must appear for investigation. This shows that investigations and trials in Azerbaijan are formal," he stated.

The judge told Jabbar that the matter does not concern him.

The progress of the trial confirms the innocence of the accused, Ismayilov's lawyer Zibeida Sadigova told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. In her opinion, "the prosecution's case is falling apart," witnesses are retracting their testimony during the preliminary investigation, and the prosecution has "no reliable evidence of guilt" against the defendants.

An employee of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes confirmed that a hearing in the Toplum TV case took place today. The next hearing is scheduled for December 1, he told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Representatives of the prosecution were unavailable for comment.