14:10, 28 July 2026

The lawyers announced an appeal against the verdict in the case of the Azerbaijani opposition publication.

The lawyers of the nine journalists and activists sentenced to long terms - defendants in the Toplum TV case - stated that the charges were not supported by evidence and promised to appeal the verdict.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the head of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, Akif Gurbanov, speaking with his final words in court, stated the groundlessness of the charges and the lack of evidence of his guilt. A member of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, Ruslan Izzetli, and Toplum TV employee Farid Ismailov also rejected the charges.

Among the defendants in the case were the founder of the publication, Alesker Mamedli, Toplum TV employees Mushvig Jabbar and Farid Ismailov, the head of the partner organization Toplum TV – the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, Akif Gurbanov, and institute employees Ruslan Izzetli, Ali Zeynal, Ramil Babayev, Ilkin Amrakhov, and Elmira Abbasov. Initially, they were charged with currency smuggling, later new charges were brought against them under six criminal articles. Toplum TV positioned itself as an independent platform for expressing different opinions on socio-political and socio-economic events. On February 10, Toplum TV announced the suspension of its activities in Azerbaijan. On June 8, the prosecutor requested long prison terms for the defendants – from 13 to 16 years. The defense requested to acquit the defendants.

The lawyers of the defendants stated that they would file an appeal against the verdict issued on July 27 by the Baku Serious Crimes Court in the Toplum TV case.

Akif Gurbanov and Ruslan Izzetli were sentenced to 15 years in prison, Alesker Mamedli and Ali Zeynalov (Ali Zeynal) to 14 years, Ramil Babayev, Mushvig Jabbar, and Ilkin Amrakhov to 13 years, Farid Ismailov to 12 years, Elmira Abbasov to 11 months and 28 days. At the same time, Abbasov was free under police supervision during the preliminary and court investigation and was taken into custody after the verdict was announced in the courtroom.

“The trial was neither objective nor fair. Virtually none of the defense representatives' motions were granted. No credible evidence of the defendants' guilt was presented. We will appeal the verdict,” said Abbasov's lawyer Elchin Sadigov to a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

Mushfig Jabbar's lawyer Nazim Musaev also stated that his client's guilt was not proven. “Jabbar ended up in custody because of his journalistic activities. He did not commit any criminal offenses,” Musaev told a correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot".

Mamedli's lawyer Fahraddin Mehtiev noted that the verdict does not reflect the content of the trial. “The charges were not supported by material evidence and were based on subjective conclusions. Alesker Mamedli, being a highly professional lawyer, provided legal services and received monetary compensation for it. However, these funds were presented as illegally obtained income. Although we presented evidence of the legality of the origin of the money and taxes paid on it,” said the lawyer, adding that the defense would file an appeal.

The lawyers of Gurbanov, Izzetli, Babayev, Amrakhov, and Zeynal also stated that the verdict would be appealed.

Translated automatically via OpenAI from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/425282