ECHR announces judgement on Mammad Ibrahim's case

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) today announced its verdict on the complaint filed by Mammad Ibrahim, advisor to the chairman of the opposition Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA).

The applicant appealed to the ECHR against its sentence of 3 years' imprisonment in September 2016 on charges of hooliganism (Article 221.2.2.2 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code).

According to the legal information website https://aihmaz.org, the applicant complained of a violation of Article 6 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ibrahim pointed to the unreasonableness of the verdict and violation of the principles of equality of the parties during the trial. In particular, all objections and motions of his lawyer were rejected and the defence was not given the same conditions as the prosecution.

During the communication, the Government of Azerbaijan unilaterally acknowledged the violations, expressing its readiness to pay compensation of 3,600 euros for moral damages and a further 500 euros for court costs. The Government also undertook to take all measures to have the applicant's appeal examined in accordance with the requirements of Article 6 of the Convention.

Although the applicant considered the amount of compensation inadequate and the lack of guarantees that the case would be reviewed, the ECHR decided to discontinue further investigation.

According to the court's judgement, the Government of Azerbaijan must pay the applicant an amount of compensation provided for in the unilateral declaration and ensure that the case is re-examined by the Supreme Court.

The applicant's interests in the ECHR were represented by lawyer Yalchin Imanov.