Court sets hearing date in “Meydan TV case”

The Baku Court for Serious Crimes, chaired by Judge Ayten Aliyeva, held a preliminary hearing in the “Meydan TV case”.

The court verified the defendants’ personal details. Defence lawyers petitioned to replace pre-trial detention with house arrest, terminate the criminal proceedings, and allow journalists to film the hearing. All motions were rejected, and the court ruled to proceed to trial.

Lawyers also said they had received the indictment but not the electronic evidence and requested a postponement, which the court denied. The only motion approved was to transfer Ramin Jabrailzade and Natig Javadli from Detention Facility No. 3 to Facility No. 1.

The defendants stated that they were arrested because of their journalistic activities.

The first substantive hearing is scheduled for 22 December.

Between 2024 and 2025, several journalists and media workers — including Ramin Jabrailzade, Aynur Ganbarova, Aytac Ahmadova, Natig Javadli, Khayala Agayeva, Ulvi Tahirov, Aysel Umudova, Shamshad Aga, Fatima Movlamli, Nurlan Gahramanli, Ulviya Guliyeva and photojournalist Ahmed Muxtar — were arrested as part of the case. They were initially charged with smuggling, later with illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, document forgery and money laundering. All deny wrongdoing.