The ECHR announced three decisions on Azerbaijan

On May 16, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced three rulings and decisions on Azerbaijan, the legal information website reports https://aihmaz.org /. In the case of “Azadlig” Newspaper and Ganimat Zahidov v. Azerbaijan, the complaint concerned a court decision against an opposition publication for publishing an article titled "The Secret of cheap meat in the Ministry of Defense."

The publication claimed that the military department buys meat from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant zone from Ukraine at below-market prices. The Ministry of Defense sued the newspaper for 10,000 manats. The court also ordered the editorial board to refute the information and apologize.

The ECHR in its decision indicates that the national judicial authorities, when making decisions, did not justify them and did not explain the proportionality of the sanction applied. The ECHR recognized the violation of the applicants' freedom of expression.

However, no monetary compensation was paid because the applicants did not provide evidence of payment of the fine. At the same time, the court decided to pay the applicants 1,000 euros for reimbursement of court costs.

In the case: Ali Huseynov v. Azerbaijan, the applicant was a defendant in the "Nardaran case", who complained of torture in the police after being detained during a police operation in Nardaran. The parties reached a settlement agreement. The government agreed to pay Ali Huseynov 6,500 euros for moral damages and 1,500 euros for court costs.

In the case of Orhan Eyubzade v. Azerbaijan, the applicant complained that in 2013-2014, as a member of the “Nida” youth movement, he was prosecuted on charges of drug trafficking, resisting police, etc.

In this case, the parties also reached a settlement agreement. The Government undertook to pay the applicant 4,700 euros for moral damages and 1,000 euros for reimbursement of court costs.