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Court verdict announced for head of SalamNews and Interaz news agencies

24 February 2025 12:40 (UTC +04:00)

The court proceedings in the criminal case of Metleb Baghirov, the head of the "SalamNews" and "Interaz" news agencies have continued, APA reports.

A verdict has been announced in court. According to the ruling, Metleb Baghirov has been banned from practicing journalism for 3 years and sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment.

Recall the state prosecutor had also requested a 12-year prison sentence for him.

Let us recall that Metleb Baghirov, known as Haji Metleb, received a religious education abroad and founded the news agencies InterAz and SalamNews. He was arrested on January 20, 2023, as part of a criminal case being investigated by the State Security Service. The State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy was recognized as the injured party in the case. He is charged under Article 162-1.1 of the Criminal Code (engaging a large number of workers in performing any work (services) before the labor contract becomes legally valid), Article 167-3.1 (possession of extremist religious materials), Article 193.2.2 (fraudulent entrepreneurship with the intent to earn substantial income), Article 193-1.3.2 (legalization of a large amount of money obtained through criminal means), and other articles.