The CoE Committee of Ministers called on Baku to comply with the decisions of the European Court on activists and journalists

Strasbourg/10.06.21/Turan: The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe again called on the Azerbaijani authorities to restore immediately the rights of human rights defenders and critics of the government, as required by the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the group of cases "Mammadli v. Azerbaijan". The  decision  Committee on this group was published on June 9 following the meeting of the Committee for Supervision over the Execution of ECHR Judgments.

The resolution mentions human rights defenders in this group: Anar Mammadli, Intigam Aliyev, Khadija Ismayilova, Nida activists Zaur Gurbanli, Rashad Hasanov, Rashadat Akhundov, Uzeir Mammadli, Bayram Mammadov, Giyas Ibrahimov and a member of the political council of the Republican Jafarli party.

In the case of the latter, the criminal prosecution has been terminated, but the unjustified tax debt has not yet been written off.

The Committee of Ministers recalls that in respect of each applicant in this group, the European Court has found a violation of Articles 18 and 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It reveals "an alarming pattern of arbitrary arrests of government critics, civil society activists and human rights defenders for abuse of criminal law."

The Committee reiterated its strong call on the authorities to take targeted and effective steps to address the root causes of violations, in particular by strengthening the independence of the prosecutor's office and the judiciary.

The Committee urged the authorities to enter immediately into a dialogue with the Secretariat to progress in taking individual and general action on the cases of the individuals concerned, and to provide information on action taken on all outstanding issues by 31 July 2021.

The committee made a decision on the case “Agazade and Mahmudov v. Azerbaijan”. It concerned a complaint by the journalists of the Mukhalifet newspaper Yashar Agazade and Rovshan Mahmudov, who were sentenced in 2007 to 2.5 years in prison on charges of libel at the suit of academician Jalal Aliyev (uncle of the head of state).

They were subsequently pardoned. The ECHR recognized the violation of their rights and recommended that the authorities abolish the criminal punishment for defamation.

The Committee reiterated its call on the Azerbaijani authorities to take general measures and, in particular, to amend the Criminal Code to exclude arbitrary persecution of citizens for libel and insult and to exclude restrictions on freedom of expression.

The Committee called on the Azerbaijani authorities to work closely with the Secretariat and use the assistance of the Council of Europe to bring domestic legislation and practice in line with Council of Europe standards regarding the protection of journalists and the safety of media representatives. The committee will return to discuss these issues in December 2021. –06D-