ECHR Recognizes Unlawful Prosecution of Seymur Khazi
On October 24, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced five decisions regarding 17 applications from Azerbaijan. In all cases, violations of the applicants’ rights were fully or partially acknowledged.
The ECHR ruled that the criminal prosecution of journalist Seymur Khazi for hooliganism was unlawful. Khazi was arrested in August 2014 and sentenced to five years in prison. The Court found a violation of Khazi’s rights under Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention and ordered Azerbaijan to pay him €4,600 in compensation.
In another decision, the ECHR recognized a violation of the rights of journalist Hafiz Babaly, along with five other Azerbaijani citizens. The complaint was related to the prohibition of a protest due to violations of their property rights. The Court found violations of the applicants’ rights to a fair trial and freedom of assembly, ordering a total of €5,800 in moral damages and €1,500 for legal costs.
In the case of “Hajibaba Azimov and Others v. Azerbaijan,” the ECHR recognized violations of the applicants’ property rights, who were forcibly resettled by the Baku Mayor’s Office due to park construction. The Court granted the Azerbaijani government three months to negotiate fair compensation with the applicants. If no agreement is reached, the ECHR will determine the compensation amount itself. The applicants valued the compensation at 2,101,602 manats.
A similar ruling was made in the case “Firm Agayev and Zulfugarzade v. Azerbaijan.” The complaint concerned the unlawful expropriation of a house and land belonging to the firm and two individuals during the construction of the “Winter Park” complex. The applicant sought to have the administrative acts regarding property expropriation declared illegal. Although Azerbaijan agreed to pay 1,500 manats for each square meter of the property as compensation, this decision was not executed.
The applicant requested the ECHR to recognize violations of the rights to a fair trial, property rights, and effective legal remedies. The Court found violations of property rights and the right to a fair trial. The applicant sought a total of €800,000 in compensation. The Strasbourg Court, not ready to determine the compensation amount, gave the applicant and the government three months to reach an agreement; otherwise, the ECHR would set the compensation amount.
In the case “Namizad Safarov and Others v. Azerbaijan,” seven applications were combined, with the applicants requesting recognition of violations of their rights to peaceful assembly.
The government unilaterally acknowledged the violation of the applicants’ rights and expressed its readiness to pay civil society activists €1,350 each for moral damages and €225 for the reimbursement of legal costs.