Court Approves Termination of Legal Powers of Prominent Lawyer, Human Rights Activist Shahla Humbatova

Baku/06.03.21/Turan: On March 5, the Baku Administrative Court, chaired by Judge Ayten Orujova, satisfied the claim of the Azerbaijani Bar Association to terminate the legal powers of Shahla Humbatova.

The Bar Association, under the pretext of not paying Humbatova's membership fees for 6 months, suspended her powers and applied to the court to exclude the lawyer from this structure.

Humbatova is known for protecting the rights of many political prisoners and others, whose fundamental rights have been grossly violated by the investigative and judicial authorities.

In particular, she, being the lawyer of blogger Mehman Huseynov, in 2019 made public the deteriorating health of her client as a result of a dry hunger strike. After that, the Penitentiary Service complained about her to the Bar Association "because of the dissemination of false information."

In 2020, Humbatova was honored with the US Department of State's annual International Courageous Women award.

The lawyer considers the claims of the Bar Association groundless.

“I paid 500 manats of membership fees. I figured I had paid the dues in advance for the coming months. However, I was told that it turned out that I had 480 manats of debt in 8 months. But, I was never warned about this and this issue was not considered at all in the disciplinary procedure. I was not even asked to clarify the debt. I learned about it from the media. On the same day, I paid the debt. Nevertheless, they filed a lawsuit against me,” Humbatova told Turan.

She considers her expulsion from the Bar Association to be disproportionate.

“Going to court after I paid the debt shows that the matter is not at all about membership fees. They just needed an excuse to expel me from the Bar Association,” said Humbatova.

Humbatova sees the true reasons for her dismissal from the legal profession in her specialization in the human rights sphere and protection of the rights of political prisoners.

“This is the fate of human rights lawyers. I'm not the first. Before me, there were such cases, and there will be after,” said Humbatova.

She intends to file a cassation appeal with the Supreme Court and if her rights are not restored, she will appeal to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

“Recently, the ECHR satisfied the complaint of Khalid Baghirov, who was removed from the legal profession for protecting the rights of political prisoners. Nevertheless, pressure is still being exerted on lawyers working in this area,” Humbatova said.

It was not possible to obtain comments from the Bar Association.

In recent years, a number of lawyers known for their independent and active civil position have been expelled from the Bar Association, including Namizad Safarov, Khalid Baghirov, Aslan Ismayilov, Alaif Hasanov, Elchin Namazov, Yalchin Imanov, Intigam Aliyev, Annaghi Hajibeyli, Farhad Mehdiyev, Irada Javadova, and others. Disciplinary measures were taken against some lawyers, including suspension from work. –03B06-