Azerbaijani court sentences newspaper editor to labor for libel

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A Baku court on Friday sentenced a newspaper editor to 18 months of "corrective labor" for libel in printing a series of articles alleging corruption at the state-owned publishing house. Avaz Zeynalli, editor-in-chief of the small independent newspaper Khural, vowed to appeal the sentence, handed down by the Narimovsky District Court. The sentence allows him continue working, but stipulates that 15 percent of his monthly wages be garnisheed to the state. "My guilt was not proven at all," he said.