A. Background
6. The applicant has been involved in various political organisations and local and international non-governmental organisations for a number of years. In 2008 he co-founded the Republican Alternative Civic Movement (“REAL”) and in 2012 was elected its chairman. He is also Director of the Baku School of Political Studies, which is part of a network of schools of political studies affiliated with the Council of Europe. He has held that position for several years.
7. The applicant maintained a personal internet blog on which he commented on various political issues. In particular, in November 2012, after the enactment of a new law by the National Assembly introducing heavy sanctions for unauthorised public gatherings, the applicant posted a comment on his blog which he claimed was meant to insult members of the National Assembly. Without naming any names, he went on to state, inter alia, that the National Assembly was composed of “fraudulent people” and compared the entire legislative body to a zoo. Those statements were quoted in the media and elicited a number of seemingly irate responses from various National Assembly members. The responses, also published in the media, ranged in content from retaliatory ad hominem insults to calls for punishment and threats of suing him in court. According to the applicant, the parliamentarians’ “lawsuit plans were ... temporarily dropped” after the calls for reprisals against the applicant were condemned by one of the Vice Presidents of the European Commission, who was visiting the country at the time.
8. At the beginning of January 2013 REAL announced that it would consider nominating its own candidate for the upcoming presidential election of November 2013. The applicant himself announced that he was considering standing as a candidate in the election. According to the applicant, his prospective presidential candidacy was widely discussed in Azerbaijan at that time.
1. Declares the complaints under Articles 3 and 6 of the Convention admissible and the remainder of the application inadmissible;
2. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention as regards the ill-treatment by the police;
3. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 3 of the Convention as regards the lack of effective investigation of the applicant’s allegation of ill-treatment;
4. Holds that there has been a violation of Article 6 of the Convention;
5. Holds
(a) that the respondent State is to pay the applicant, within three months from the date on which the judgment becomes final in accordance with Article 44 § 2 of the Convention, the following amounts, to be converted into Azerbaijani manats at the rate applicable at the date of settlement:
(i) EUR 10,000 (ten thousand euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable, in respect of non-pecuniary damage;
(ii) EUR 2,050 (two thousand fifty euros), plus any tax that may be chargeable to the applicant, in respect of costs and expenses;
(b) that from the expiry of the above-mentioned three months until settlement simple interest shall be payable on the above amounts at a rate equal to the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank during the default period plus three percentage points;
Application no. 47095/09 Zeynal MUSTAFAYEV against Azerbaijan lodged on 20 August 2009
STATEMENT OF FACTS
The applicant, Mr Zeynal Mustafayev, is an Azerbaijani national, who was born in 1937 and lives in Sumgayit. He is represented before the Court by Mr A. Mustafayev, a lawyer practising in Azerbaijan.
The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.
The applicant’s son (M.M.) was born in 1967 and was serving a life sentence in Gobustan Prison. He was held with one other inmate (S.R.) in cell no. 94 designated for two inmates.
Since June 2006 M.M. had sent complaints to various domestic authorities, including the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Prosecutor General and the Ombudsman of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He complained in particular about his conditions of detention, violation of inmates’ rights in Gobustan Prison and his ill-treatment by prison guards noting that his life was in danger.
On 2 December 2006 S.R. left cell no. 94 for a long-term personal visit with his mother and M.M. remained alone in the cell.
On 3 December 2006 in the early morning a fire broke out in cell no. 94. According to the applicant, the fire began at approximately 6 a.m. and despite other inmates’ warnings prison guards did not immediately intervene to extinguish the fire. They opened the door of the cell only one hour after the beginning of the fire.
1.The
applicant, Mr Rafail Muradov, is an Azerbaijani national, who
was born in 1984 and lives in Baku. He was represented before
the Court by Mr Y. Khankishiyev, a lawyer practising in
Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani Government ("the Government”) were
represented by their Agent, MrÇ.Asgarov.
2.The
facts of the case, as submitted by the parties, may be
summarised as follows.
3.On
11 February 2008 the applicant was arrested by the police on
suspicion of theft. On
14 February 2008 the applicant was formally charged under
Article 177 (theft) of the Criminal Code. On the same day the
Absheron District Court ordered the applicant’s pre-trial
detention for a period of two months.
4.The
applicant’s pre-trial detention was subsequently extended by the
Absheron District Court’s decision of 11 April 2008 and the
Sumgayit Military Court’s decision of 6 May 2008.
5.On
27 May 2008 the Sumgayit Military Court rejected the applicant’s
request for replacement of his pre-trial detention by house
arrest. On 24June 2008 the Sumgayit Court
of Appeal upheld the Sumgayit Military Court’s decision of 27
May 2008.
6.By
the end of June 2008, the investigation had been completed and
the case was forwarded to the Sumgayit Military Court for trial.
7.On
25 June 2008 the Sumgayit Military Court held a preliminary
hearing. At this hearing the court rejected the applicant’s
request for release and found that the preventive measure of
remand in custody should be left "unchanged”.
8.By
a judgment of 22 July 2008 the Sumgayit Military Court sentenced
the applicant to a fine of 500 Azerbaijani manats and ordered
his release.
1. The case originated in an application (no. 56688/12) against the
Republic of Azerbaijan lodged with the Court
under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms ("the Convention”) by a
Russian national, Mr Gaji Ibragimovich Chankayev ("the applicant”), on 1
September 2012.
2. The applicant was represented by Mr E. Osmanov, a lawyer practising
in Baku. The Azerbaijani Government ("the Government”) were represented
by their Agent, Mr Ç. Asgarov.
3. The applicant
alleged, in particular, that his extradition to the Russian Federation would
entail a violation of Article 3 of the Convention and that he had no effective
remedies available to him by which to challenge his extradition on the grounds of
the risk of his torture or ill-treatment.
4. On 12 September 2012 the
Acting President of the Section decided to indicate to the respondent
Government, under Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, that the applicant should not
be extradited to the Russian Federation for the duration of the proceedings
before the Court. It was also decided to grant the application priority
treatment under Rule 41 of the Rules of Court.
5. On 12 December 2012 the
application was communicated to the Government.
In addition, on 17
January 2013 the Russian Government informed the Court that they would exercise
their right to intervene in the proceedings as a third party (Article 36 § 1 and Rule 44
of the Rules of Court).
5. The applicant was born in 1961 in Baku, Azerbaijan,
and is currently serving a life sentence in Gobustan Prison.
6. On 18 July 1997 the Baku City Court convicted the
applicant of complicity in two counts of murder and complicity in arson and sentenced
him to death and confiscation of property. On 19 August 1997 the Supreme Court
upheld this judgment.
7. Following the conviction, the applicant was transferred
to the 5th wing of Bayil Prison, designated for convicts sentenced to death.
Despite the existence of the death penalty as a form of punishment under the
criminal law applicable at that time, the Azerbaijani authorities had pursued a
de facto policy of a moratorium on
the execution of the death penalty from June 1993 until the abolition of the
death penalty in 1998.