Trial of Meydan TV Case Has Begun

A preparatory hearing in the Meydan TV case was held on December 12 at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes, chaired by Aytan Aliyeva.

According to activist Kamran Mammadli, who was observing the proceedings, a large number of convoy guards lined up in front of the glass cage in the courtroom.

"Only after the lawyers protested did the convoy guards move away and we were able to see the arrested journalists," Mammadli wrote on Facebook.

According to him, the biographical data of the accused were checked at the beginning of the session.

When the judge addressed Aytaj Tapdıg, she stated that she was "accused in connection with journalistic activities."

When the accused Aysel Umudova was asked about her residential address, she replied, "Baku pre-trial detention center (SIZ0)."

The accused Natig Javadli said he was proud to have worked for Meydan TV and of the publication's activities, which drew applause in the hall, Mammadli continued.

"When the issue of video recording by journalists was discussed at the session, the prosecutor said there had been no requests from the press. In this regard, Nurlan Gahramanli said: 'Of course, there are simply no journalists left free; everyone has been arrested,'” Mammadli noted.

Further, according to him, the lawyers petitioned for the termination of the criminal case, or, failing that, for the transfer of the accused to house arrest.

However, both petitions were rejected.

At the same time, the court granted the petition to allow the accused to sit next to their lawyers during the process.

"Starting from the next session, the arrested journalists will sit not in the glass cage, but next to their lawyers. Only Ulviyya Ali was allowed to sit next to her lawyer today, as she felt unwell in the cage due to lack of air," Mammadli further stated.

In addition, the court granted the defense's petition to transfer Natig Javadli, Ramin Deco (Jabrayilzade), and Ulvi Tairov from Shuvalan Detention Facility-3 to the Baku Pre-trial Detention Center, which is a more modern penitentiary institution.

"A positive moment was the satisfaction of the petition to lift the de facto ban on the registration of our marriage with Aytaj Tapdıg and to allow us visits in the pre-trial detention center.

The court decided to send a letter to the pre-trial detention center to ensure the conditions for our marriage registration and to allow us meetings," Mammadli emphasized.

The court accepted the case and scheduled the substantive hearings for December 22.

In connection with the start of the Meydan TV court process on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Azerbaijan to drop all charges and release the 12 journalists held in custody.

[Link: https://cpj.org/2025/12/trial-of-12-journalists-begins-in-azerbaijans-case-against-meydan-tv/]

“The sad sight of 11 journalists and a respected journalism instructor on trial in the case against the award-winning Meydan TV outlet only underscores the scale and unwarranted nature of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on the independent press,” said Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. “Azerbaijani authorities must immediately release all those detained in the Meydan case, as well as all other media workers affected by this terrifying repression,” she added.

If convicted, the journalists face up to 12 years in prison on a range of financial crime charges related to the alleged receipt of funding from Western donors, including currency smuggling, money laundering, and tax evasion, the CPJ statement notes.

Meydan TV journalists Natig Javadli, Khayala Agayeva, Aytaj Tapdıg, Aynur Elgunesh, Aysel Umudova, and Ramin Jabrayilzade were arrested in December 2024, along with Ulvi Tagirov, deputy director of the Baku School of Journalism.

Shamshad Aga, editor-in-chief of Arqument.az and working for Meydan TV, as well as Meydan TV freelancers Nurlan Gahramanli and Fatima Movlamli, were arrested in February and March 2025.

Former Voice of America correspondent Ulviyya Ali, arrested in May and denying any connection to Meydan TV, and freelance photojournalist Ahmed Mukhtar, arrested in August, CPJ recalls.

These journalists are among at least 24 journalists currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan in retaliation for their work, including 20 who have been jailed on Western funding charges since 2023. Earlier this year, seven journalists and media workers in the case against the anti-corruption investigative publication Abzas Media were sentenced to up to nine years in prison on similar charges.

Azerbaijani law requires civil society organizations to obtain state approval for foreign grants, which the authorities have accused these media outlets of failing to do. In decisions on similar cases, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that such an omission under Azerbaijani law is punishable by fines, not criminal sanctions. Independent experts argue that the authorities refuse to register independent organizations seeking foreign grants, making it impossible for them to be legally obtained.

"The arrests occurred amid deteriorating relations with the West and a crackdown on civil society and political opposition following Azerbaijan's military return of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in late 2023. The authorities have also sharply restricted the activities of foreign media and filed in absentia charges of serious crimes against leading exiled journalists," the CPJ statement concludes.