Court Dismissed Claim by Khadija Ismayilova against Baku Prosecutor`s Office

The Sabail District Court of Baku completed consideration of the suit of the journalist Khadija Ismayilova against the Baku City Prosecutor's Office.

The journalist demanded compensation for her unjustified arrest for three months on charges of incitement to suicide. The Finance Ministry is also involved in the case as a third party.

Ismayilova was arrested on 5 December 2014 and charged under article 125 of the Criminal Code. She was kept in custody until 6 March 2015. When the Baku Court of Grave Crimes on September 1, 2015 sentenced her to 8.5 years in prison for economic crimes, she was justified under Article 125 of the Criminal Code. Thus, from 5 December 2014 to 6 March 2015, i.e. 91 days, Ismayilova was kept in custody illegally.

As the lawyer Yalcin Imanov told Turan, in this period the plaintiff lost her wages and had to pay for legal aid and the preparation and delivery of dietary food to the jail in connection with the surgical operation on the stomach. She estimated the damage at 9,030 manat, requiring another 20,000 manat in compensation for the moral damage.

However, representatives of the Baku Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Finance opposed the claim, and the court dismissed it. The defense intends to appeal this decision and in the future to apply to the European Court of Human Rights.

* On May 25, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan canceled the accusation of the journalist of misappropriation and abuse of office and replaced the real term of imprisonment by 3.5 years probation. And on August 8 the suspended sentence was lowered to 2 years 3 months imprisonment. -06B-