Eynulla Fatullayev files suit against Prosecutor's Office

Jailed Eynulla Fatullayev, one of Azerbaijan's most prominent investigative journalists, has filed a suit against Prosecutor’s Office of Baku, local agencies reported citing Fatullayev’s lawyer Elchin Sadykhov.

The lawyer said that Eynulla Fatullayev applied to the Sabail District Court and claims the statements of the Baku Prosecutor's Office made on February 2, 2010, violate presumption of innocence.

Eynulla Fatullayev claims to recognize that charges of crimes against him ahead of court’s decision are unacceptable and demands on public apologies and compensation at 1 manat for moral damage with transmission of money to Judge of Gardag Disctrict, Ismail Khalilov.

That was Ismail Khalilov who ruled on July 6, 2010, to sentence Eynulla Fatullayev to 2,5 imprisonment on drug possession charges, Turan agency reported. Drugs were flipped to Fatullayev, who was jailed in colony number 12, just on the eve of the New Year, in December of 2009. Eynulla Fatullayev was serving a 8,5-year sentence on charges of terrorism.

The European Court of Human Rights has acquitted Fatullayev of charges raised against him in 2007 and in a ruling not only ordered Azerbaijan to free Fatullayev at once but also to pay him 25,000 euros in compensation.

The international community and Fatullayev’s colleagues think that drugs were flipped in order to reject judgment by the European Court and keep Fatullayev jailed.

Repressions against Eynulla Fatullayev, founder and chief editor of the now-closed Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azarbaycan newspapers, started after his publication of series of articles known as “The Karabakh Blog.” Fatullayev accepted in The Karabakh Blog that Armenians didn’t kill civil population of Khojaly village.

Fatullayev was arrested on April 20, 2007, and sentenced to 2,5 years imprisonment on charges of defamation, terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred and tax evasion. After his covering stories related to issue of Khojaly in which he said that Armenians didn’t kill residents of the village, he was charged of incitement of ethnic hatred and terrorism.

On October 30, 2007, journalist was sentenced to 8,5 years imprisonment and he was again brought to trial on drug possession charges. The Court found him guilty and sentenced to additional 2,5 years imprisonment.