Baku / 14.09.17 / Turan: "Radio Azadlig" - the Azerbaijani service of "Radio Liberty" appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in connection with obstructing its activity in the territory of Azerbaijan for nearly three years by the government. "We could not achieve any progress towards eliminating the charges brought against us by the justice system of Azerbaijan. These accusations are unfounded and in view of Azerbaijan's entry into the jurisdiction of the ECHR we decided to appeal to the court, "the president of Radio Liberty, Thomas Kent, stated. Azerbaijani law enforcers raided the Baku bureau of Radio Azadlig in 2014 and put forward a number of charges, including tax charges. "Radio Azadlig" repeatedly stated about the groundlessness of the charges. "Azadlig Radio" made efforts to eliminate tax charges at all levels of the justice system (other charges were terminated in 2016). However, the Supreme Court postponed consideration of the appeal of "Radio Azadlig" until the completion of the criminal investigation in this case. The lawyers of "Radio Azadlig" question the legitimacy of the criminal investigation. According to the laws of Azerbaijan, the investigation was to be completed in 2016. However, it is still ongoing. The government has not yet put forward any charges and has not provided any report. "We come to the conclusion that this pseudo-criminal investigation is intended to confuse the situation. The investigation did not reveal any violations of the law, nevertheless, it led our Bureau from a legal point of view to inaction and created an atmosphere of threats to our journalists, "the statement said. "Radio Azadlig" has repeatedly appealed to the Prosecutor General of Azerbaijan to resolve the issue of the status of its Bureau. Most recently, in August, Radio Azadlig asked for information on the latest information in connection with the investigation, asked for the return of the stamp, seal and documents. They were withdrawn during the raid in 2014 and are needed to restore the activities of the bureau. "Radio Azadlig" also asked to unblock its bank accounts, on which 70 thousand dollars were frozen. The government, although notified of the receipt of the letter, but no response provided.
In the statement of Radio Azadlig, the ECHR raises issues of violations of the rights of the structure guaranteed under articles 6.1 (right to a fair trial) and 13 (right to effective remedies). Moreover, in the spring of this year, the authorities blocked the site of Radio Azadlig under the pretext of fighting against "creating threats to national security" and "publishing extremist materials." Despite the appeal of this decision - the date of the appeal proceedings has not yet been appointed. "Azadlig Radio" broadcasts from satellite, Internet, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and other digital platforms, and actively distributed articles, audio and video materials is an indispensable independent source of information.-06B-
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