The authorities refuse to comply with the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, human rights defender

Baku / 19.09.18 / Turan: Prior to the announcement on September 21 the decision of the European Court of Human Rights on the complaint of the well-known lawyer and human rights activist Intigam Aliyev, Turan agency asked him to comment on this case.

The essence of the case is connected with torture, violation of the right to privacy and persecution for political reasons, Aliyev said. He noted that pre-trial arrests in Azerbaijan are used as a political tool. Thus, politically motivated pre-trial arrests have already been confirmed in the ECHR decisions in cases of: Ilgar Mammadov, Anar Mammadli, Rasul Jafarli, Leila Yunus, and others. In addition, there is a violation of Article 18 of the European Convention, implying political motives for prosecution.

Another complaint is related to searches on the day of detention in the office of the Legal Education Society and Intigam Aliyev's apartment. The investigators seized without legal registration, personal documents that had nothing to do with the investigation, as well as documents of the organization, information carriers, seals and stamps, and even computers of family members of the human rights defender. "The office, which is the property of another person, is still sealed by the prosecutor's office and we cannot enter there," Intigam Aliyev said.

As for the complaint of torture, this is a common phenomenon in pre-trial detention centers and prisons. So, "quarantine" is a procedure to intimidate and break a prisoner from the first days. The dimensions of the camera are much smaller than the norm per one prisoner. There are inhuman conditions, and prisoners are fed not quality food. They are carried to the courts in transport under conditions that are not suitable even for transporting animals. In the courts, the accused are imprisoned as animals in iron cages. "Despite serious health problems, I was not allowed to receive medical assistance from my doctors," Aliyev said.

Asked how the situation is with the payment of compensation, the ECHR, Aliyev said that "consistently heavy." At the same time, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which is called upon to monitor the implementation of the ECHR verdicts, continues to remain silent.

In addition, Intigam Aliev was unable after receiving the arrest in 2014 to receive honorariums for any case related to the protection of the applicants' rights in the ECHR. In civil cases, the applicants are somehow paid compensation. However, for the violation of political rights, the payments are terminated. Numerous statements and appeals in this regard do not yield any results.

Earlier, after appeals to the CE Committee of Ministers, it was answered that the complaint had been accepted. Now there is no such thing either. In the history of the Council of Europe there was not so much ignoring the decisions of the ECHR, Intigam Aliyev noted.

The authorities deliberately do everything to ensure that lawyers, journalists, activists, human rights activists, politicians experienced maximum material problems, and lawyers would stop applying to the European Court. At the same time, the authorities are blocking all sources of finance for those who are fighting for democracy.

He also pointed to the pressure on lawyers involved in political processes to ensure that they did not protect political prisoners. For this purpose, lawyers were dismissed from the college: Alaif Hasanov, Khalid Bagirov, Yalchin Imanov, Fakhraddin Mehdiyev, Neymat Kerimli, Asabali Mustafayev, Irada Javadova, and others.

In his opinion, one should not rejoice in the growth of the number of lawyers, the move of the college to a new office, the drive to the leadership of competent lawyers. For the main thing in the legal profession is independence, without it everything else is meaningless. -06D--