MeydanTV trial continues as detained journalists allege planted evidence and seek airport CCTV footage

Twelve journalists and media workers linked to the independent outlet MeydanTV appeared before the Baku Serious Crimes Court this week, where defendants and their lawyers raised fresh challenges to the prosecution’s evidence and described their detention as part of a broader campaign against independent journalism in Azerbaijan.

One of the defendants, reporter Ramin Cəbrayılzadə, known as Deko, told the court on July 24 that when he returned from Georgia on December 6, 2024, he was carrying only €8,000. He said he passed customs checks at Baku airport that day, but shortly after leaving the terminal by taxi he was detained by police who, he alleges, produced additional cash and placed it among his belongings while recording the encounter on video. Deko’s account was given during testimony in a trial being heard by a panel led by Judge Zaur Hacıyev.

Defense lawyers had earlier requested that airport CCTV footage of Deko’s passage through customs be obtained. The court issued a request to the airport, but on July 24 Judge Hacıyev reported that the airport had replied it could not provide the recordings. The response reportedly cited “technical reasons,” a justification that has angered defendants and their counsel.

"Hava limanı strateji obyektdir. Oradakı görüntülərin verilməməsini hansı texniki səbəblərlə əlaqələndirə bilərlər? Köçürmək üçün fleş-kartları yoxdur? Bu, nə absurd cavabdır! Bu cür vacib məsələni təmin etməyən məhkəmə hansı ədalətli araşdırmadan danışa bilər?", protested fellow detainee Şəmşad Ağayev (Ağa) in court, articulating the defense’s disbelief that footage from a high-security site could be unavailable for evidentiary review.

Defense lawyer Şəhla Hümbətova urged the court to issue a renewed request for the recordings, arguing the material could be vital to establishing her client’s innocence. "Bu cür yanaşma məhkəməyə hörmətsizlikdir. Xahiş edirik, təkrar sorğu göndərilsin", she told the panel. Judge Hacıyev said the issue would be revisited at the next hearing.

Several detained journalists used their testimony to place their prosecution in a political context. Deko said his time in detention had opened his eyes to realities at home: "15 illik jurnalist fəaliyyətim dövründə görmədiyimi, yaşamadığımı, ölkəmin əsl üzünü və astarını məhz həbsxanada gördüm", he told the court, adding that he did not regret choosing journalism despite his detention.

MeydanTV staffer Xəyalə Ağayeva, continuing testimony she began earlier, described how the Azerbaijani leadership cultivates favorable coverage while denying space to independent voices. She criticized state media events and the International Media Forum in Shusha, saying in Azerbaijani: "Heç bir despotun hücumu mətbuat qarşısında öldürücü ola bilməz. İlham Əliyev də istisna deyil. Əksinə, elə onun özünün mediaya ehtiyacı var. Dörd ildir ki, sərasər Şuşada Beynəlxalq Media Forumu keçirir. İşi düşəndə jurnalistləri başına yığıb mətbuat vasitəsilə, onlardan istifadə edərək öz fikirlərini dünyaya çatdırır. Lakin özündən başqa heç bir kəsə bu haqqı tanımır".

Another defendant, Fatimə Mövlamlı, disputed prosecutors’ claims that large sums were found in her home. She said she relies on modest support from her mother, who works as a cleaner, yet authorities claim €13,000 was recovered from her residence. She warned that the case against her and colleagues was not tied to any specific reporting but aimed at silencing the independent press: "Ən absurd məsələ odur ki, 13 min avronun içində 500-lük əskinaslar var və onların da çapı 2019-cu ildə dayandırılıb. Heç Hindistan kinolarında belə ssenari qurmurlar", she said.

Throughout the hearing the detained journalists refused to answer questions from prosecutor Vüsal Abdullayev; Xəyalə Ağayeva said she would not respond to "the one carrying out the government’s orders": "Mən hökumətin sifarişini icra edənin heç bir sualına cavab vermirəm".

The defendants in the MeydanTV case face a range of criminal charges brought under provisions of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code, including alleged illegal entrepreneurship (article 192), money laundering (193-1), tax evasion (213) and smuggling (206). Prosecutors allege the journalists were engaged in bringing foreign currency into the country through illicit means; those statutes carry penalties of up to 12 years’ imprisonment.

The MeydanTV arrests on December 6, 2024, included the outlet’s editor-in-chief Aynur Elgünəş and several reporters and staff — Aysel Umudova, Natiq Cavadlı, Aytac Əhmədova, Xəyalə Ağayeva and Ramin Cəbrayılzadə — as well as the deputy director of the Baku Journalism School, Ülvi Tahirov. Additional detentions tied to the same investigation occurred through 2025: in February, journalists Şəmşad Ağayev, Nurlan Qəhrəmanlı and Fatimə Mövlamlı were taken into custody; others, including Ülviyyə Quliyeva in May and photojournalist Əhməd Muxtarov in August, have also been arrested in cases linked to MeydanTV.

Observers and the defendants note that since November 2023 more than 30 journalists and civic activists in Azerbaijan have been detained on smuggling-related charges, including staff from AbzasMedia and ToplumTV. In the AbzasMedia case, seven journalists were convicted and handed sentences ranging from seven years, six months to nine years; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Fərid Mehralızadə received a nine-year sentence. In the ToplumTV case, prosecutors have sought lengthy prison terms of 13 to 16 years for those accused.

Authorities routinely maintain that no one in Azerbaijan is detained for their professional activities and say those prosecuted are accused of concrete criminal acts. Defendants and rights advocates argue the cases amount to a systemic effort to intimidate and silence critical media. The MeydanTV trial is scheduled to resume on August 7, when additional detained journalists are expected to give testimony and the court will again consider the question of obtaining airport footage that defense lawyers say could be exculpatory evidence.