The Azerbaijani court that handles the financial crimes trial of journalists from OCCRP’s member center, Meydan TV, has replaced the entire panel of judges overseeing the case, prompting concerns from defense lawyers that the months-long proceedings will be forced to restart from scratch.
Twelve journalists linked to the news outlet have been on trial since December 2025 at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on charges carrying potential prison sentences of up to 12 years.
International rights groups have condemned the trial, arguing that the charges have been brought to punish the defendants for their reporting, which has included coverage of high-level corruption in the country.
Orkhan Mammadov, an editor at Meydan TV based in exile, told OCCRP that the sudden decision to replace the panel was a tactic by Baku authorities to exert “psychological pressure on our employees” and “drag the case out even further.”
Defense lawyers representing some of the reporters expressed their fears that the proceedings would be forced to restart under Azerbaijani law, erasing months of courtroom arguments.
Nemat Karimli, a defense lawyer representing Ramin Jabrayilzade, told Meydan TV that while a criminal trial can typically proceed if a single judge is replaced, no such legal mechanism exists when an entire panel is swapped. As a result, “the trial will have to start over," Karimli added.
Rovshana Rahimli, a defense lawyer representing fellow detained Meydan TV journalist Aysel Umudova, echoed that concern.
"Previously, the other two judges on the panel always remained in place. Now all three have been changed. There is a chance the trial will restart," she said. "We will object to the trial restarting, and we will demand that the judges instead familiarize themselves with the case record."
Meydan TV’s Mammadov said that authorities had already postponed numerous trial dates, leaving proceedings stalled for the past three months. This included a May 22 hearing when the judges reportedly cut short the testimony of detained journalist Khayala Agayeva after she mentioned Aliyev’s son, Heydar, in her statement.
Mammadov said that authorities were “making an example out of [his colleagues],” but added that they would continue to “speak openly and tell the truth, and they are not intimidated by this.”
The case began in early December 2024, when authorities detained six Meydan TV staff members and a media trainer and charged them with “smuggling committed by an organized group.” Five more journalists linked to the outlet were arrested over the following months.
At least two dozen independent journalists have been detained since late 2023 in what rights groups describe as an unprecedented crackdown on the free press in Azerbaijan. Last week, press freedom groups condemned a state prosecutor’s request for prison sentences of up to 15 years for a team of journalists at the independent outlet Toplum TV who are also facing financial crimes charges.
The next hearing in the trial of the Meydan TV journalists is scheduled for July.
