The European Court of Human Rights fined the Azerbaijani government 24 thousand euros

On February 22, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced decisions on four complaints from Azerbaijan. In the case of Rasim Isagov, Ali Abdullayev, Mubariz Abdulkarimov and Rauf Abdurakhmanli v. Azerbaijan, the applicants complained of unlawful interference, violation of rights and freedoms.

Isagov’s complaint was related to detention and administrative arrest for distributing leaflets. A member of the opposition Popular Front Party was detained on December 22, 2014 and charged with violating the rules of election campaigning and petty hooliganism. He was sentenced to five days of arrest.

In court, the applicant denied all charges, but the local courts did not consider his arguments. During communications with the Azerbaijani authorities, the Government acknowledged the violation of the applicant’s rights under Articles 5 (Right to freedom and security), 6 (Right to a fair trial) and 10 (Freedom of expression) of the Human Rights Convention and offered to pay compensation to the applicant. The court accepted the proposal and ruled that the Azerbaijani government should pay Isagov 5,800 euros and 6,000 euros to each of the other applicants within 3 months. In addition, the legal representative of the applicants must be paid 2,000 euros. The interests of the applicants in the ECHR were represented by lawyer Khalid Bagirov.