Case of Ilgar Mammadov – Challenge to Council of Europe

The Working Group on the Unified List of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan issued a statement on the occasion of the 4^th anniversary of the arrest of the leader of the movement REAL, Ilgar Mammadov. The statement is as follows:

“February 4, 2017 will mark 4 years of the arrest of Ilgar Mammadov, the chairman of ReAl movement and an expert of several international organizations including the Council of Europe. On February 4, 2013, Ilgar Mammadov was arrested under trumped up charges of organizing and taking part in the protests that took place in Ismayilli region in January, 2013, and was sentenced to 7 years imprisonment.

Ilgar Mammadov's immediate arrest in spite of the lack of a reasonable suspicion in relation to the charges brought against him, as well as the gross violations in the course of both the investigation and the judicial process, rejection of the petitions filed by him and his lawyers, and failure to consider numerous evidence confirming Ilgar Mammadov's innocence including the testimonies given by a large number of journalists who were with him during the protests etc. are good causes to conclude that the arrest is politically motivated and frivolous.

For this reason, Amnesty International soon recognized Ilgar Mammadov as a "prisoner of conscience"; both local and influential international organizations and numerous governments have persistently raised the issue of his release before Azerbaijani government on the ground of the obvious political motive of his arrest.

The political motive in the criminal prosecution of Ilgar Mammadov is also referred to in the judgment delivered by the European Court of Human Rights on May 22, 2014 with regard to his application. In this judgment, the Court considered the arrest unlawful, and by recognizing violation of Article 5 (right to liberty) of the European Convention on Human Rights as well as Article 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) in conjunction with Article 5, it held that the arrest had been politically motivated.

Although execution of the judgments awarded by the European Court is mandatory for the member states, this judgment has remained unexecuted for almost 3 years, decisions and calls of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the Secretary General, President and other authorized persons of the Council of Europe for execution of the judgment are totally ignored. 

Failure to release Ilgar Mammadov in spite of the judgment awarded by the European Court represents an ultimatum rejection to fulfill the commitments undertaken by Azerbaijani government before the Council of Europe. Evasion of the fulfillment of obligations by a member state benefiting from the dividends (guarantees for cooperation with international financial institutions etc.) arising from membership to the Council of Europe does not only call into question the authority of the international court but also constitutes a serious threat to the system of protection of rights and freedoms of the Council of Europe.’

“We call on the Azerbaijani government to comply with its voluntarily undertaken obligations and to execute the judgment awarded by the European Court in relation to Ilgar Mammadov.

We urge the international community, especially the Council of Europe to strengthen their efforts and take serious steps for immediate release of Ilgar Mammadov,’ the statement says in conclusion.  –06D--