Elchin Gasanzade

Affiliated media: Blogger

Incident date: June 10, 2020

Attack type:

• Prosecution for libel, insult, violation of privacy (1)

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: turan.az

Location: Azerbaijan, Mingecevir

Additional information:

On June 12 at the Mingecevir City Court, a hearing has been scheduled in the case of blogger and activist Elchin Gasanzade and Ibragim Tyurskoy. Shakhriyar Mustafayev, head of the City Housing and Maintenance Department filed a lawsuit as a private criminal charge. He demanded that Gasanzade be charged under Art. 147.1 (libel) and Art. 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code. The reason for the lawsuit was critical publications about the official on social media. Gasanzade also noted that he had been repeatedly subjected to pressure for criticism of local officials. “Only yesterday I was fined 50 manat for a fabricated charge of petty hooliganism. Supposedly, I generally spoke [obscenities] on the street. This is absurd,” said Gasanzade. He believes that the Mingecevic Court should not review this case, since he legally resides in the city of Sumgait.