18 March 2016, 06:50

ECtHR obliges Azeri authorities to pay over 32,000 euros to rights defender Rasul Jafarov

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found a violation of the rights of Azerbaijani rights defender Rasul Jafarov. On March 17, the ECtHR pronounced the decision to recognize the arrest of the rights defender as illegal and obliged the government of Azerbaijan to pay him compensation in the amount exceeding 32,000 euros. The pronouncement of the ECtHR's decision has coincided with the decree on pardon issued by the President of Azerbaijan on the same day. According to the decree on pardon, the number of persons released from prison also included Rasul Jafarov, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Rasul Jafarov, the coordinator of the campaign "The Art for Democracy", was arrested on August 2, 2014. On April 16, 2015, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes found Rasul Jafarov guilty of a number of economic crimes and sentenced him to 6.5 years of imprisonment in a common-security penal colony. The defence has appealed against the verdict. On July 31, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) reduced the Rasul Jafarov's sentence by three months.

According to the report published on the website of the Strasbourg Court, the ECtHR has ruled unanimously that with respect to Rasul Jafarov, Article 5 (right to liberty and security) and Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights were violated. Furthermore, the ECtHR also suggests that the Azerbaijani government has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 34 (right of individual petition) of the European Convention.

The latter violation manifested itself in non-admission to Rasul Jafarov of his defender Khalid Bagirov, excluded from the Advocates' Chamber.

The ECtHR has suggested that those violations strengthen the arguments to the conclusion that the prosecution of Rasul Jafarov was caused by the authorities' desire to "to force him to keep silence and to punish him for his human rights activities."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent

Комментирование через Кавказский узел
All news
НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ООО “МЕМО”, ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ООО “МЕМО”.

February 21, 2025 22:22

February 21, 2025 21:10

February 20, 2025 23:59

  • In Chechnya, sending to war is method to punish drivers

    Chechen law enforcers are monitoring social networks and reveal violators of traffic rules, who may face both public reprimand and sending to the special military operation (SMO) zone. The effect of talks with law enforcers is caused by fear of the consequences, human rights defenders have noted.

February 20, 2025 23:55

  • Zarema Musaeva's arrest extended

    A court in Grozny has extended Zarema Musaeva's arrest until March 26 under a criminal case on disrupting the work of a penal colony. Meanwhile, her sentence under the first criminal case was due to terminate on March 23, the "Team against Torture" (TaT)* has informed.

February 20, 2025 23:15

News archive
Пн
Вт
Ср
Чт
Пт
Сб
Вс
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
1
2