The final court hearing in the criminal case of Manaf Jalilzade, accused of making public calls against the state, has been held.
Modern.az reports that today, an in absentia verdict was read out at the Baku Court for Grave Crimes during a hearing chaired by Judge Ayten Aliyeva.
According to the verdict, Manaf Jalilzade was sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment.
It should be noted that a decision was made to involve Manaf Jalilzade as an accused person under Article 281.2 of the Criminal Code. Since he fled the investigation and hid outside the borders of Azerbaijan, a search was declared for him in connection with the announcement of charges against him. By a decision of the Binagadi District Court dated February 15 last year, a measure of restraint in the form of in absentia arrest was chosen against him.
On September 19, additions and amendments were made to the content of the charges, and a decision was made to involve Manaf Jalilzade as an accused person under Articles 220.2 and 281.2 of the Criminal Code.
On February 17, 2019, he, acting as part of a group of persons in prior collusion with Suleyman Suleymanli, Tofig Mehmanov, and others, videotaped the public calls of Mehman Mammadov and others aimed at the violent change of the constitutional order of the Republic of Azerbaijan in a public place near the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland, in a pre-arranged manner, and by live-streaming them on his channel named “Diktator TV” on the “Youtube” platform, made public calls promoting the use of force against the existing government in Azerbaijan, which was formed and operates on legal grounds. Subsequently, from January 19, 2023, to June 17, 2025, he disseminated 19 different video messages containing public calls that caused the disruption of public peace, tranquility, and security, aimed at paralyzing government bodies and influencing the will of the people.
The accused person was warned that in absentia proceedings could be initiated, and an in absentia verdict and other court decisions could be rendered.
