Azernews.Az

An Azerbaijani law enforcement official has said the attempts by a newspaper reporter who was attacked and recently sought to leave the country to mislead investigators have failed.
"Although the Azadlig newspaper employee Agil Khalil has tried to direct the investigation in the wrong direction by giving false testimony from the very first day, these attempts have been unsucessful," the Prosecutor General's Office spokesman Vugar Aliyev told a local TV channel.
Khalil was stabbed in the chest by two unidentified men as he left the editorial office late on March 13. Khalil said he had been followed for several days and maintained the attack was instigated by officials over his exposing articles. The Prosecutor-General's Office issued a statement on the outcomes of the investigation into the journalist's case saying he had been attacked by a homosexual in a jelousy outburst.
Aliyev said Khalil, who realized that "the shattered illusions" concerning the attack being related to his work were about to be revealed to the public as a result of an open trial, had chosen "the path of dodging investigation and the court of law" by issuing baseless statements.
"Agil Khalil, who violated the requirements of criminal-procedural law to come and properly testify after being summoned by the body administering the proceedings, sought to leave the country several times in a bid to evade investigation, although his presence was essential during both pre-trial and judiciary investigation."
Aliyev went on to say that on Saturday, Khalil attempted to travel to Turkey via a Baku-Istanbul flight. On Sunday morning, he was prevented from crossing over to another country by frontier guards during an attempt to leave Azerbaijan through the territory of the Balakan and Zagatala districts.
The Prosecutor-General's Office spokesman dismissed as unfounded and contradicting reality the allegations that the journalist had been followed by unidentified individuals and pressured to provide the needed testimony.