Baku: The court hearing on the ‘Meydan’ TV case is starting, APA reports. The criminal case has been sent to the Baku Court on Grave Crimes for consideration and has been assigned to Judge Aytan Aliyeva. The preparatory hearing is scheduled for December 12.

According to Azeri-Press News Agency, in December of last year, journalists Ramin Deko (Jabrayilzade), Aynur Elgunash (Ganbarova), Aytaj Tapdig (Ahmadova), Natiq Javadli, Khayala Agayeva, Ulvi Tahirov, and Aysel Umudova were detained in connection with the ‘Meydan’ TV case. Preventive measures were taken against them, and they were charged at the Baku City Main Police Department under Article 206.3.2 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to smuggling committed by several persons acting in collusion.

In February of this year, the editor-in-chief of the ‘Argument.az’ website, Shamshad Agha, was detained in the same case, followed by journalists Fatima Movlamli and Nurlan Gahramanli (Libre). The case continued to unfold with the preventive detention of journalist Ulviyya Ali (Guliyeva) in March, and in August, photojournalist Ahmad Mukhtar was detained.