Azerbaijan to Pay Leyla and Arif Yunus EUR 40,000 for Violation of Their Rights - ECHR

Baku / 16.07.20 / Turan: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on July 16 announced a decision on the cases of Azerbaijani human rights defenders Leyla and Arif Yunus.

The director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus and the director of a department of this NGO Arif Yunus, who are living in political emigration in the Netherlands, have appealed their pre-trial arrest in Azerbaijan, linking the criminal prosecution with their criticism of the authorities.

The Yunus spouses were detained in 2014 upon departure from the Baku airport. Searches were carried out in their office and apartment. During this, A. Yunus became ill, and he was hospitalized.

Azerbaijani courts ignored spouses' complaints about the illegality of these actions. Following this, in August 2014, the Yunus were arrested on charges of fraud, tax evasion and misappropriation.

The charge of espionage in favor of Armenia was singled out in a separate proceeding, but never found a continuation.

A year later, Leyla and Arif Yunus were sentenced to 8.5 and 8 years in prison, respectively.

The ECHR found a violation of their rights under Art. 5 (right to liberty and security of person), Art. 6 (right to a fair trial), Art. 8 (right to respect for family life), Art. 13 (right to an effective protection), Art. 1 (ownership) of Protocol 1, Art. 2 (freedom of movement) of Protocol No. 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms, and Art. 18 (limits of use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention.

The Strasbourg court ruled that the Azerbaijani government is obliged to pay the Yunus spouses compensation in the amount of 20 thousand euros to each and another 11.438 euros for legal expenses.

The applicants considered that the reason for their persecution was their active citizenship and criticism of the government. The ECHR agreed with their arguments, recognizing a violation of their rights under Art. 18 (limits of use of restrictions on rights).

The ECHR is also in the process of another statement by the Yunus couple related to the merits of the criminal case against them.    –16 / 06D-