The ECHR found illegal the deprivation of Azerbaijani citizenship of Emin Huseynov

Baku/13.07.27/Turan: Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)  announced a decision on the complaint of the Azerbaijani human rights defender, executive director of the Institute for Freedom and Security of Reporters (ISDB) Emin Huseynov. The complaint concerned the deprivation of his Azerbaijani citizenship in 2015.

According to Khalid Agaliyev, the head of the Media Rights Group, the applicant, being the head of an NGO, was prosecuted on charges of financial violations. Fearing a biased investigation, he hid in the Swiss Embassy in Azerbaijan for 10 months.

Eventually, he left the country on the plane of the Swiss Foreign Minister, but before leaving Baku, he was stripped of his citizenship.

Huseynov raised in his statement the issues of violation of his rights under Articles 8 (respect for privacy), 10 (freedom of expression), 13 (right to effective legal remedies) and 18 (limits on the use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms.

In his statement, he noted that he was forced by local authorities to renounce citizenship.

In addition, Huseynov referring to Articles 34 (right to individual complaint) and 38 (obligation to create appropriate conditions for the investigation of the case) of the European Convention pointed out that his brother was repeatedly subjected to pressure and detention, the government did not provide copies of all the documents necessary to investigate the complaint.

The applicant asked the ECHR to make a verdict on the cancellation of the decision on the deprivation of his citizenship and the restoration of citizenship. The ECHR decided to recognize the violation of Huseynov's rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Freedoms.

The Strasbourg Court recognized as indisputable the fact that after the deprivation of citizenship, Huseynov found himself in the position of a stateless person, without a reliable identity document. This decision created a general uncertainty for him and affected his social identity.

The ECHR also concluded that the Azerbaijani government has not fulfilled its obligations under Articles 34 and 38.

At the same time, the ECHR did not consider it necessary to investigate violations under Articles 10, 13 and 18. The ECHR decided to pay Huseynov compensation in the amount of 4,500 euros.   ---06D---