ECHR Recognizes Violations of Journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov's Rights

Baku / 17.09.20 / Turan: The European Court of Human Rights announced on September 17 a decision on the case of journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov.

Lawyer Khalid Agaliyev told Turan that the ECHR recognized a violation of Mirkadyrov's rights under Art. 5 (right to liberty and security of person), 6 (right to a fair trial) and 8 (right to respect for private life) of the European Convention.

The ECHR ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay Mirkadyrov compensation of 20 thousand euros.

At the same time, the ECHR did not consider it necessary to investigate the journalist's request for violation of his rights against the Turkish government, which extradited him to Azerbaijan.

In turn, Mirkadyrov's lawyer Fuad Agayev noted on his Facebook page that the ECHR found that there were no sufficient grounds for the arrest of Mirkadyrov and his imprisonment without a court decision, violation of the presumption of innocence, and disrespect for the secrets of family and private life.

Recall that during Mirkadyrov's residence in Turkey, the authorities of this country in April 2014 deprived him of his journalist accreditation and residence permit, after which he was deported to Azerbaijan.

In December 2015, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Mirkadyrov to six years in prison. In March 2016, the Baku Court of Appeal changed the actual sentence to a suspended sentence.

During pre-trial detention, he was banned from telephone conversations, meetings and correspondence with anyone other than lawyers.

Local courts dismissed his pre-trial detention and restraint appeals.

In July 2014, the Ministry of National Security and the General Prosecutor's Office issued a statement in which, without any court decision, they called Mirkadyrov an agent of the Armenian intelligence service. — 06D-