Appellate Court Returns Lawyer's Complaint Against the State Security Service to Sabail District Court

The Baku Appellate Court has upheld the complaint of lawyer Fariz Namazly regarding the refusal of the Sabail District Court to consider his lawsuit against the State Security Service (SSS).  The appellate instance found the Sabaile Court's decision to be unlawful and returned the case to the Sabaile Court for substantive review, Namazly told Turan. He indicated that the Sabaile Court unjustifiably ruled that his complaint was not subject to judicial oversight.

The essence of the complaint is that on the evening of August 31, SSS officers detained him in a café, brought him to their agency, where he was interrogated as a witness for three hours. "Although I was questioned as a witness, I was detained and taken away in uniform, as they do with suspects," Namazly stated. He noted that he was detained at the end of the workday, and his mobile phone was seized, which he considers equivalent to detention.

"If there was a need for questioning as a witness, they could have informed me in advance and invited me to the SSS. Instead, I was effectively detained, my phone was confiscated, I was transported in an SSS vehicle, and until my arrival there, I did not know the reasons for my detention," the lawyer emphasized.

In his complaint, the lawyer requests recognition of violations of his rights guaranteed by Articles 5, 8, and 18 of the European Convention. The SSS has not commented on Namazly's statement.