Mercedes-Benz global car sales dropped by 12% in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year, Azernews reports.
Day: October 8, 2025
The 12th Summit of the Council of Heads of State of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), held in Gabala, has become a defining moment in the evolution of the Turkic world. Bringing together leaders from across the Turkic geography, the summit not only reaffirmed shared values of history, language, and culture but also underscored a new stage of strategic integration among its member states. The discussions in Gabala highlighted the OTS’s growing role as an influential geopolitical bloc that bridges continents, connects transport corridors, and amplifies the collective economic potential of its members.
Categories
Noones Help Center
In Germany, the trial of former Bundestag member Aksel E. Fischer, accused of accepting bribes from the Azerbaijani government, has been postponed once again. The 59-year-old politician is alleged to have received payments from Baku while serving as a member of parliament. The trial is to be held at the Higher Regional Court of Munich.
İttihama görə, Xristian-Demokrat İttifaqını təmsil edən Fişer Bundestaq üzvü olduğu dövrdə Azərbaycan maraqlarını müdafiə etmək və parlamAccording to the indictment, Fischer, who represented the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), allegedly accepted €21,800 in bribes from the Azerbaijani government in 2016 in exchange for promoting Azerbaijan’s interests and making favorable statements about Baku in the Bundestag. Given that the statute of limitations for such offenses is ten years, it would expire in 2026.
The hearing was postponed this time because Fischer’s wife failed to appear in court. The Higher Regional Court announced that the next session is scheduled for October 20.
Fischer denies the charges, claiming that all of his actions were legitimate lobbying activities. His case was initially handled together with that of former MP Eduard Lintner, but due to Fischer’s repeated absences from hearings on health grounds, it was separated. Lintner, who admitted to the charges, received a nine-month suspended sentence in July.
The anti-corruption organization Transparency Deutschland has warned that because of the repeated delays, the bribery allegations risk becoming time-barred. Representatives of the organization emphasized the importance of strengthening international law enforcement cooperation.
Although the investigation into Fischer began in January 2025, his repeated illness-related absences caused delays, leading judges in April to separate his case from that of Eduard Lintner. Like Fischer, Lintner had been accused of “bribery of mandate holders.”
The 80-year-old Lintner, a member of the Christian Social Union (CSU), was found guilty of receiving bribes from Azerbaijan. In July, he was sentenced to nine months on probation. Lintner denied wrongdoing, arguing that his actions amounted to lobbying, and he has appealed the verdict.
Another former German MP from the Christian Democratic Union, Karin Strenz, was also accused in a related case of accepting bribes. The court concluded that she had received €111,000 from the Azerbaijani government. Since Strenz passed away in 2021, her husband will be responsible for repaying the amount.
The trial of Aksel Fischer is set to resume on October 20, and the proceedings are expected to conclude by the end of January 2026.
The post Trial of former MP accused of taking bribes from Azerbaijan postponed again appeared first on MEYDAN.TV.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has ruled that Russia violated the procedural aspect of Article 2 of the Convention (the right to life) by taking “no meaningful steps” to clarify the circumstances of the death of Dutch photojournalist Stan Storimans, who was killed while covering the 2008 Russo-Georgian War.
Stan Storimans, a cameraman for Dutch television, was killed on August 12, 2008, in what appeared to be a missile strike in Gori, a Georgian town bombed during the Russo-Georgian war, while two of his colleagues – Jeroen Akkermans and Tsadok Yecheskeli – were injured. In the case Storimans-Verhulst and Others v. Russia, the applicants were represented by lawyers from the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), a local human rights watchdog, and the Dutch organization Stichting Justice Initiative.
The 2008 investigation mission ordered by the Dutch Foreign Ministry concluded that Storimans was killed in a strike on Gori carried out with an Iskander missile armed with cluster munitions. The report noted that the missile type was found only in the Russian arsenal. The findings were sent to the Russian Defense Ministry, which replied that the data provided by the Dutch investigation were “insufficient to determine the provenance of the fragments that had apparently caused Mr. Storimans’ death or to conclude that he had been killed as a result of weapons used by the Russian side.” No further investigative steps were taken after 2009.
“Despite the gravity of these allegations and the evidence provided by the Dutch investigation, the Russian authorities took no meaningful steps to clarify the circumstances of the incident, and limited their response to general denials and requests for further evidence,” the Court said in an October 7 ruling.
“Even assuming that they did open an inquiry into the matter, as claimed, they failed to pursue a meaningful criminal investigation, and ultimately took no concrete investigative measures after transferring the matter to the military-crimes unit, which, moreover, was based in the conflict zone, thereby limiting the applicants’ access to any such investigation,” the Court added.
The Court unanimously held that Russia pays EUR 10,000 to Storimans’s widow and children in respect of non-pecuniary damage, and EUR 10,000 each to Akkermans and Yecheskeli for non-pecuniary damage.
The Court declared the applicants’ complaints under the substantive limb of Article 2 of the Convention inadmissible.
Also Read: