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Eynulla Fatullayev Says Colonel of MNS Akif Chovdarov Killed Journalist Elmar Huseynov

BAKU. March 3, 2010: Accused journalist Eynulla Fatullayev appealed to the Baku Appellate Court against the Garadagh Court’s decision to prolong the investigation against him for additional two months to include the new accusation of illegal drug possession. A copy of the appeal was sent to Turan agency. In his appeal, Fatullayev made a number of sensational statements concerning the reasons for his arrest and the pressures brought on his newspapers Realny Azerbaijan and Gundelik Azerbaijan by the authorities, as well as obstacles he faced while investigating Elmar Huseynov’s murder. "On October 5, 2006 I met in Tbilisi with those whom the Azerbaijani authorities announced were wanted by Interpol for Elmar’s murder," Fatullayev wrote in his appeal. "Instead of arresting those people, the Ministry of National Security (MNS) started persecuting and pressuring me and other members of the Public Commission involved in the investigation, demanding that we stop our activity, and not disseminate information about the suspects Teymuraz Aliyev and Sergo Darviiishev," wrote Fatullayev. "Others stopped investigating, but I continued, and came to the conclusion that all suspicions led to one person – the MNS officer Akif Chovdarov," he said. In this regard, Fatullayev sent letters to Deputy National Security Minister Hilal Asadov and the Attorney General, informed lawyers Isakhan Ashurov and Elton Guliyev, as well as the human rights defenders Murad and Rena Saddadinovs. Fatullayev believes that was the main reason for his arrest. MNS filed a lawsuit against me on May 2007 because of the article entitled Aliyevs start war. Fatullayev, called as a witness, was placed in a solitary confinement and interrogated by the representatives of the MNS leadership, including Chovdarov. They told Fatullayev that Elmar Huseynov’s murder was a state secret, and conducting a private investigation was illegal. They promised to release Fatullayev if he agreed to cooperate with the MNS, wrote Fatullayev in his letter to the Court. Fatullayev informed foreign diplomats in Baku about the MNS officers’ "criminal activity" conveying his thought to the members of the AGO Group, PACE rapporteur Andres Herkel, the OSCE’s special envoy Miklosh Harasti, and others. Chovdarov, afraid of being exposed, offered to release Fatullayev in July 2008 and once again made that offer to him at the beginning of 2009; but Fatullayev refused to cooperate with him. Fatullayev asked his visitors to publish the facts about Chovdarov, but they did not dare, fearing for their safety. Fatullayev was warned in June 2009 that if he did not keep silent they would file a new lawsuit against him. On June 12, a rebellion erupted in the jail; after it was suppressed, Fatullayev was called by Mahir Musayev, Deputy Head of the penitentiary service, and asked if he knew anything about the rebellion. Musayev admitted to having new instructions from the top about preparing new accusations against Fatullayev. On June 14, Daghbei Allahverdiyev, an MNS officer who, together with Chovdarov, was involved in another case of attack against the journalist Agil Khalil, interrogated Fatullayev about his possible participation in the rebellion in the prison. At the end of June, the Penitentiary Service’s leadership, through lawyer Isakhan Ashurov Fatullayev, suggested that Fatullayev write an appeal requesting a pardon. He was told that the government had decided to release him to prevent his appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The journalist was told to admit his guilt, not to write critical articles about Ilham Aliyev and Mehriban Aliyeva or leave the country, but Fatullayev refused. At the end of September, Miklosh Harasti and human rights defender Elchin Behbudov visited Fatullayev. Fatullayev told them about the book he had written in prison about events in the country; the first volume was ready and he was working on the second. Three days later, his cell was searched, and his book was confiscated. Penitentiary head Agayev said that Behbudov had informed the MNS about the book, and Fatullayev claims that the penitentiary administration confiscated the book at the orders from MNS. On December 21, they offered Fatullayev a new deal. The director of the Jail suggested that Fatullayev appealed to the Azeri president and asked for a pardon. He advised Fatullayev to bring a new jacket, because his old one was shabby. This detail, according to Fatullayev, confirms the fact that penitentiary was preparing a new provocation (it is easier to stuff anything to a new item which is brought to plaintiff from outside, whereas the cloths of the plaintiff in jail more or less is under the prisoner’s own control – ed.). Eynullayev wrote that the drugs were planted in his shoes at the orders of the administration of the jail, which simply wanted to bring up new criminal charges against him (Turan).

Source: http://azerireport.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2023&Itemid=47

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