PACE President Condemned Expulsion of Khalid Bagirov from Advocacy Profession

PACE President Anne Brasseur condemned the termination of advocacy of the lawyer Khalid Bagirov in Azerbaijan.

"I have learned today that Khalid Bagirov, the lawyer of Azerbaijani civil society activist Ilgar Mammadov, has had his licence to practice suspended. Against the background of increasing intimidation of human rights defenders in Azerbaijan, such clear pressure on independent lawyers defending civil society activists is unacceptable, "said Anne Brasseur, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

I also take this opportunity to highlight that Mr Mammadov remains in prison, notwithstanding the final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg that his detention was against the standards of the European Convention on Human Rights. Therefore, I once again call on the Azerbaijani authorities to free Mr Mammadov without further delay and to refrain from targeting civil rights activists and their lawyers. "

Recall that the Bar pushed Bagirov from work of the defender because of his criticism of the judge that sentenced Ilgar Mammadov and other accused for organizing the riots in Ismailly in January 2013.

The Bar also appealed to the court for Bagirov’s complete cessation of office.

Khalid Bagirov was the lawyer of many well-known activists: Arif Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, Yadigar Sadigov, Hilal Mamedov, activists of NIDA, Omar Mamedov and bloggers Abdul Abilov and others. -16D-