A fine without a court order for calling a person a "spy"

New fines have been established for publishing (distributing) information about the guilt of a person without a court decision that has entered into force. This was reflected in the amendment to the Code of Administrative Offences, which the President approved on April 25. According to the Code, officials will be fined 1000-1500 manats, and legal entities - 2500-3500 manats.

In fact, even before this change, violation of the presumption of innocence was considered illegal in Azerbaijan. But a number of people are detained, without a court decision, they are presented as guilty in various press bodies, their photos are published.  Such cases have been especially observed in recent months during the detention of religious persons.  They were called "Iranian spies" without a court decision.

Hikmet Babaoglu, a member of the Milli Majlis Human Rights Committee, told Turan that the presumption of innocence exists in international law and is reflected in the legislation of Azerbaijan: "This is one of the important legal norms. Therefore, of course, until a court decision is made against a person and he is not convicted, and his possible violations have not been confirmed, this person is not considered innocent."

According to the MP, the fact is that in the public opinion of Azerbaijan, not only in relation to the accused, but also in relation to any citizen in general, pretentious opinions are often expressed: "Their rights are actually violated. Therefore, it is more a question of literacy than a question of law and law.  I am sure that this legal literacy, legal education is one of the components of the rule of law."

Rufat Safarov, co-founder of the human rights organization Line of Defense, told Azadlig Radio that the presumption of innocence is supported by national and international legislation: "Without a preliminary investigation, without a court verdict that has entered into force, people are branded, calling them "murderers", "spies", "drug dealers", "terrorists", "corrupt officials".

Safarov does not believe that the new amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences will give a positive result.

He believes that the lack of legal literacy in society is an indirect responsibility, and in some cases, the desire of the authorities: "But, on the other hand, it would be unfair to assign all responsibility to the authorities."

According to him, in some cases, officials who call political activists and journalists "criminals" without a judicial decision are aware of the presumption of innocence: "There is a problem of high-ranking officials representing public figures, journalists, former officials as criminals on the basis of instructions from the highest level of government, sometimes before the completion of the preliminary investigation. This is also due to the absence of a state governed by the rule of law."