A journalist arrested in the Meydan TV case has been released from pretrial detention to attend his mother's funeral.
Journalist Shamshad Agha, arrested in the Meydan TV case, has been granted short-term leave to attend his mother's funeral.
As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Shamshad Agha (Agayev), editor-in-chief of the website argument.az, was arrested on February 5 in connection with the Meydan TV case. In September, he was placed in a Penitentiary Service medical facility due to health issues. His relatives reported that the journalist suffers from a stomach ulcer.
In October 2025, representatives of the Institute for Democratic Initiatives, who were themselves in custody, asked the President of Azerbaijan to facilitate the release of Shamshad Agha. They indicated that his wife needs treatment, and the children need their father's custody.
This morning, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes considered a motion filed by Shamshad Aga's defense team to grant permission for him to attend his mother's funeral, lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev told the Caucasian Knot correspondent.
“Yesterday we received the sad news of the death of Shamshad's 77-year-old mother. We immediately filed a motion with the court to allow him to attend the funeral and wake. This morning, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes granted the motion. He has been granted a three-day leave from January 29 to 31,” the lawyer said.
According to him, Aga left for the village of Shivlya in the Lerik district in the south, accompanied by an escort. Azerbaijan
The court confirmed the information about Aga's leave.
The Meydan TV case was opened in December 2024, when six journalists were detained and later arrested on charges of currency smuggling. They linked the criminal case to their professional activities. By August 2025, 11 people had been arrested in the Meydan TV case. At the end of August, it was announced that the investigation had been completed, and a 12th suspect, photojournalist Ahmed Mukhtar, had appeared in the case. At the same time, the arrested journalists were charged with seven more criminal offenses. . On December 12, 2025, at the first hearing in the Meydan TV case, the Baku court refused to close the criminal case and release the accused.
Let us recall that the lawyers "did not hear any reasonable explanations from the investigative body" for Aga's detention, the journalist's lawyer, Shahla Humbatova, told the Caucasian Knot in February 2025. "After all, he had previously been summoned to an investigation in another case and immediately reported to the police. On the other hand, a ban on leaving the country had already been imposed on him. That is, there is no reason to believe that he will be able to hide or evade the investigation. However, in the end, the court chose a preventive measure against Aga in the form of arrest... We still don't understand how the court based its decision. Because the operative part of the ruling was read out," she said.
Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/420338