The defendants in the Toplum TV case have challenged the panel of judges.

Toplum TV journalists challenged the court's composition, citing the judges' bias and unfair consideration of their case. They also called the inclusion of information about their foreign travels in the list of evidence unfounded.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," the activists and journalists arrested in the Toplum TV case, initially accused of currency smuggling, were charged in January with six new criminal offenses. They face up to 12 years in prison. Toplum TV positioned itself as an independent platform for expressing diverse opinions on socio-political and socio-economic events. On February 10, Toplum TV announced the suspension of its operations in Azerbaijan. At the November 24 hearing, the defendants demanded that the head of the Azerbaijan Customs Committee be summoned to court, but the court refused to consider the motion.

The Toplum TV trial continued in the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on January 5. Defendant Akif Gurbanov, head of the Platform III Republic and director of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, challenged the court on behalf of all the defendants, an associate of his who observed the trial told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

"Akif Gurbanov explained the protest to the judges by citing their bias and unfair consideration of the case. The judges did not grant a single motion from the defendants' defense, with the exception of a few technical appeals. The challenge was dismissed, and the judges continued the trial," said an activist who wished to remain anonymous.

Then the trial began examining documents. "Akif Gurbanov protested the inclusion of information about his foreign travels in the list of documents as evidence. Gurbanov stated that he was originally from Georgia and had traveled to that country to visit relatives. He also traveled to the United States, Germany, and other countries with official invitations. The dates of these visits were included in the criminal case, supposedly as evidence of his involvement in smuggling. However, by the same logic, anyone who traveled abroad could be declared a smuggler. As Akif Gurbanov said, "There must be concrete evidence of the defendants' involvement in smuggling, and there is none in the case," the activist continued. Another defendant, Toplum TV founder Alesker Mammadli, also protested the inclusion of documents proving his foreign travels in the evidence. "Alesker Mammadli drew attention to the fact that his trips abroad to events attended by Azerbaijani government officials were included in the list of evidence," his lawyer, Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Accused Toplum TV employee Mushvig Jabbar drew the court's attention to the fact that before his arrest, he ordered a car abroad, and when the car was delivered, he was already in custody and unable to clear it through customs. The journalist said that a notary is not allowed to visit him in the pretrial detention center to issue power of attorney to relatives to receive the car, and now he has no idea where his car is.

His lawyer, Rasul Jafarov, believes the detention of the journalist's car is unlawful. "We have repeatedly sent inquiries, but there is no answer as to where this car was sent from customs," the lawyer told a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

He noted that the car is unrelated to the case and that the defendant's rights to the car are being unreasonably restricted. According to him, presiding judge Azer Taghiyev promised to send an inquiry to determine the car's location.

The next hearing in the Toplum TV case is scheduled for January 7, a Caucasian Knot correspondent was told at the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. Representatives of the prosecution were unavailable for comment.

Journalists from other media outlets, including Meydan TV, Abzas Media, and Kanal-13, have also been persecuted in Azerbaijan. This can be found in the Caucasian Knot report "Serial Arrests of Journalists in Azerbaijan". On June 20, journalists and employees of Abzas Media were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 7.5 to 9 years. They denied the charges in court, emphasizing that they were being persecuted for their professional activities and investigations into corruption.