Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 January / Trend corr. K.Zarbaliyeva / The Baku Appeal Court upheld the sentence against Eynulla Fatullayev, the detained editor-in-chief of the newspapers Gundalik Azerbaijan and Realni Azerbaijan.
The appeal on the sentence against the editor-in-chief was considered on 16 January. The state prosecutor stated that the verdict by the court from 30 October 2007 was grounded, that accusations brought against the editor-in-chief were proven during the court trial. The prosecutor insisted on overruling the appeal. The court did not uphold Fatullayev's appeal and the sentence in remained in force.
Eynulla Fatullayev was charged as a result of a lawsuit brought by Tatyana Chaladzeh, head of the State Committee on Refugees and Internally Displaced People (IDP) on 20 April 2007, for articles published in his newspapers. He was sentenced to eight years and six months imprisonment.
Isakhan Ashurov, Fatullayev's attorney, called the court's decision unfair and groundless. The attorney will appeal to the Azerbaijani Supreme Court and European Court on Human rights.