ECHR: blocking of az24saat.org is illegal
Strasbourg, 13 June 2024
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on June 13, 2024 “RFE/RL Inc. and others against Azerbaijanannounced his decision on the case. In this case, the issue of blocking four online media tools, including the az24saat.org site, was discussed. The court decision found that blocking az24saat.org is illegal.
Az24saat.org Website Blocking
“24 Saat.org” LLC and Vugar Alakbarov In the case against Azerbaijan, the applicants:
- “24 Saat.org” LLC: Owner of online news portal az24saat.org.
- Vugar Alakbarov: Journalist and editor of az24saat.org.
On August 6, 2018, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies (MTX) of the Republic of Azerbaijan sent a warning letter to 24Saat.org and stated that a number of articles on the az24saat.org website contained slander, false and misleading information. The Ministry has declared that if those articles are not deleted, it will apply to the court and demand the blocking of the site.
The applicants did not fulfill these requirements, and as a result, on August 7, 2018, the Sabail District Court decided to block the az24saat.org website. The court granted the appeal of MTX and issued a decision to immediately block the site. After this decision, the appeals of the applicants were rejected by the Baku Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Other Blocked Sites
Within the framework of the decision, the complete blocking of three more online media was discussed:
- RFE/RL Inc. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty): A non-profit organization operating in Azerbaijan since 2004. Their news site azadliq.org was blocked in March 2017 for allegedly containing illegal content.
- Anakheber.az: Online news portal managed by journalist Talibov. On August 5, 2018, the MTX demanded that a number of articles on the site be blocked, stating that they were illegal.
- Khural.com: Online version of Khural newspaper. On August 7, 2018, a lawsuit was filed to block the site’s articles on the grounds that they were illegal.
Judgment of the ECtHR
The ECtHR states in its decision that the blocking of az24saat.org and other websites did not have legal grounds and the relevant procedural rules were not followed. In the decision, it is noted that the complete blocking of sites on the grounds that some articles contain illegal content is not provided by law, and these blocking decisions were implemented with insufficient guarantees to prevent freedom. The Court also emphasized that unpredictable interpretation or application of domestic law is unacceptable.
Warranties and Indemnification
The court ordered 24Saat.org Ltd and Vugar Alakbarov to pay 5,000 euros for moral damages, as well as 1,000 euros for court costs. Similar amounts of compensation were awarded to other applicants.
Importance of Decision
This decision emphasizes the need to protect freedom of expression and to ensure that restrictions on the Internet are consistent with the law. This decision of the ECtHR is considered as an important step for Azerbaijan to fulfill its obligations on freedom of expression and to revise the restrictions applied on the media.
24Saat.org welcomes this decision and declares that it will continue to fight for the protection of freedom of expression. To defend the principles of free speech and independent journalism, we call on all our readers and supporters to join us in this fight.