Azerbaijan, Baku, March 9 / Trend H.Bagirov /
The journalists charged with blackmailing businessmen from Azerbaijan's Guba region were sentenced today.
The Azerbaijani Heinous Crimes Court sentenced Eldar Asgarov and Shahlar Valiyev to two years in jail and Nushaba Gasimova to one year conditional imprisonment.
Businessmen Bakhtiyar Mammadov, Rufat Gurbanov, Zefa Masimov, Isgandar Huseynov and Rovshan Babayev from the Guba region appealed to the Interior Ministry Central Department for Combating Organized Crime and complained of journalists blackmailing them for money.
The preliminary investigation revealed that Valiyev, Asgarov and Sayad Asgarov and Nushaba Gasimova, who pretended to be journalists, threatened the businessmen of disseminating discrediting news about the Gubba, Ramin, Gosha Chinarm Afsana and Rustam coffee shops, owned by the businessmen. They demanded 1,000 manat for each journalist, the Interior Ministry press service said.
Valiyev and Asgarov pleaded guilty.
The investigation revealed that the editor-in-chief of Yeni Azerbaijan Dunyasi newspaper, Shahlar Valiyev and the editor-in-chief of Gunashli Azerbaijan and Qanun ve Gercheklik newspapers were engaged in blackmail.
The Central Department for Combating Organized Crime asks citizens who were blackmailed by Valiyev and Asgarov to appeal to the department.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]