Azerbaijan, Baku / Тrend corr K. Zarbaliyeva / Two attorneys will protect the rights of the editor-in-chief of the Gundalik Azerbaijan and Realny Azerbaijan newspapers, Eynulla Fatullayev. The attorney of Fatullayev, Isakhan Ashurov, reported a contract was signed with attorney Aydin Nazarli on 24 May. The attorneys will defend Fatullayev in the criminal case filed in the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry. The editor was not interrogated on the criminal case filed in the Central Investigation Department of the National Security Ministry in compliance with the terrorism article.
Fatullayev was charged by Tatiana Chaladzeh, the director of the Centre for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons' Rights Protection, in compliance with Article 147 of the Criminal Code (calumny) and sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment. He is accused of insulting the honour and dignity of the occupied Khojaly city's former residents in his article named "Diary of Karabakh".
The editorial office of the newspapers was shut own on 20 May at night by the employees of the Emergency Situations Ministry as the building was not in compliance with security requirements.
The editor of the newspaper Gundalik Azerbaijan, Shahvalad Chobanoghlu, has reported that the activities of the newspapers had been stopped, the office facilities confiscated, and financial opportunities restricted.