Meydan TV case in Azerbaijan: “If we are barred from speaking in court, we will begin a dry hunger strike”

Meydan TV journalists protest in court in Azerbaijan

On May 22, during the trial in the Meydan TV case at the Baku Serious Crimes Court, journalist Khayala Agayeva made a free statement.

The judges interrupted her several times. During the last interruption, they ordered guards to remove Agayeva from the podium and seat her next to her lawyer.

In response, the jailed journalists began shouting: “Cowards!”

At the start of the May 22 hearing, Natig Javadli protested, saying he had been unable for two months to obtain a notarized document allowing his children to travel abroad.

“My children need to leave to study. For two months the court has been unable to properly prepare one document. The notary keeps returning it, saying it is written extremely poorly. I demand that the document be prepared correctly immediately,” he said.

After that, Khayala Agayeva approached the podium to make a statement. Before speaking, she asked the court to turn the podium sideways. The journalist said she did not want to speak with her back to the people who came to observe the trial.

“That is impossible. This is a court, defendants must face the judge,” the judges replied.

“For us this is not a court, but a platform. So I will stand at the podium the way I think is right,” Agayeva answered before beginning her speech.

“Shortly before my arrest, I filmed a report about Bayirshahar that I never got to publish”

“This week Baku is hosting the World Urban Forum. Foreign guests are being shown the decorative streets of our city. The head of state tells them about preserving Baku’s history and architectural heritage. He says we are proud of our ancient heritage.

But he does not mention how the memory of the capital is being destroyed and how historic buildings are being flattened.

What the authorities hide, we again have to speak about ourselves. The last report I filmed shortly before my arrest, which the authorities did not allow to be published, was about Bayirshahar. Footage seized by police during the search of my home showed a historic area marked for destruction.

At the time, historic buildings that opponents of preserving old Baku called a ‘black stain’ on the city’s image were under threat of demolition. For the last 18 months this issue has remained in the spotlight. Residents repeatedly protested, and the ‘Save Bayirshahar’ initiative group appealed to the president to stop the demolitions.

After all these voices were ignored, calling this year the ‘Year of Architecture’ while telling fairy tales about urban development is a major contradiction.”

At that point, Judge Vugar Guliyev interrupted her, saying: “Speak to the point, this is not a podium for speeches.”

Agayeva replied that she was speaking exactly to the point.

From her seat, Aytaj Tapdig also protested, saying: “You will not be able to silence us.”

“The alternative media theory we created under Aliyev’s dictatorship”

After that, Khayala Agayeva continued her statement.

“This week, while foreign guests at the forum were being shown around Baku’s White City, the history of Bayirshahar was already lying in ruins, and we were marking the 13th anniversary of Meydan TV behind barbed wire. Because we were arrested on orders from a single center and are being tried in a fabricated case.

This trial is the result of our many years of work. It is a practical demonstration of the alternative media theory we created during Ilham Aliyev’s dictatorship.”

After these words, Agayeva’s microphone was switched off. She fell silent for a moment. When the microphone was turned back on, the journalist repeated the last sentence and continued speaking.

At that point, Judge Vugar Guliyev interrupted her again.

“Do not speak so loudly. You are speaking as if you are at a rally. You are shouting, and it is bad for our health.”

“Is there any rule that defines the tone people must use in court?” journalist Shamshad Aga asked the judges in protest.

“When the president’s young son was only nine years old, $75 million in assets in Dubai had already been registered in his name”

Khayala Agayeva continued reading her statement out loud.

“We always tried to break free from the authorities’ system of political control and tear down the barrier built to block the spread of information. Our work was aimed against government pressure and manipulation, like a weapon pointed directly at it.

By speaking about problems, we ourselves became a problem and disrupted the authorities’ plans to completely silence people’s voices in Azerbaijan.

Our goal was to reach all parts of society, expose the lies of officials, and give people the truthful information they deserve and need. When speaking about ineffective and criminal governance, we placed no one above criticism.

The Meydan TV case is another political order from the Azerbaijani authorities at the highest level, aimed at completely silencing this critical voice – the independent press. Before us, journalists from AbzasMedia and Toplum TV, as well as members of independent civil society and NGOs, faced similar repression.

The charges in the Meydan TV case were fabricated. The prosecution unsuccessfully tried to artificially construct various criminal accusations. Every page of the case materials practically screams that this is a politically ordered case.

Since the ‘Sherlock Holmeses’ from Baku’s main police department could not find a single piece of evidence against this so-called ‘organized group,’ they tried to present our foreign trips as smuggling.

For example, until the age of 28, I went through border checks every time I crossed the border, and no violations were ever found.

But let me tell you about a person who was never checked at all. When the current president’s son, Heydar Aliyev, who is the same age as me, was only nine years old, $75 million worth of assets in Dubai had already been registered in his name.

This happened in 2006 – the same year our government stopped paying child benefits in the country. At the same time, they were moving millions of dollars abroad for their own children. Isn’t that smuggling?”

After these remarks, the judges interrupted Agayeva again.

“Let state prosecutor Ergun Gafarov, who is carrying out the government’s political order in our trial, ask these questions to Heydar Aliyev. He has grown up now and is capable of answering,” Agayeva continued.

But the judges interrupted her once again.

“The authorities paid PACE members $3 billion in bribes”

Ignoring the judges’ interruptions, Khayala Agayeva continued her statement.

“Many investigations by Meydan TV and other independent media outlets revealed that top Azerbaijani officials own property in London worth millions of dollars.

Have prosecutors, police officers, or judges ever investigated how these assets were bought abroad? Do they even have the courage to think about it?

Another Meydan TV investigation was about Azerbaijani authorities bribing members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. To achieve these criminal goals, the government paid about $3 billion in bribes, while those lawmakers who sold their honor secretly acted in support of the Azerbaijani government.

Has the Prosecutor General’s Office ever questioned the people who moved these $3 billion out of the country – where the money came from and how it was transferred abroad?”

At that point, the judges interrupted again, saying: “You are not speaking to the point. You cannot speak like this here.”

“We were falsely accused by Ilham Aliyev’s government, so we will speak about it. Be quiet and listen!” Agayeva replied to the judges.

The judges then stopped her from continuing.

“Guards, remove her from the podium and take her back to her seat!” Judge Elmin Rustamov ordered. Guards approached the podium and prevented the journalist from continuing her speech.

The jailed journalists stood up, shouted “Cowards!” and began banging on tables and the glass cage around them. As the chanting continued, the panel of judges left the courtroom without explanation.

“Our trials are being deliberately delayed. Everything is being done to drag this process out,” Ulviya Ali told people in the courtroom.

“We were falsely accused by Ilham Aliyev. His name will be mentioned in these trials, and everyone must hear it,” Fatima Movlamli said.

“If we are not allowed to speak during the hearings, we will begin a dry hunger strike,” Aytaj Tapdig said.

The last hearing in the Meydan TV case took place on April 3. Hearings scheduled for April 17 and May 1 were postponed.

No date was announced for the next hearing.

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