EMDC about politically motivated administrative arrests

Baku/16.04.19/Turan: The Elections Monitoring and Democracy Center (EMDC) has distributed an Evaluation Document on politically motivated administrative arrests in Azerbaijan.

As noted in the document, from January 2018 to February 2019, 128 people were arrested administratively for political reasons.

Administrative arrests are used in Azerbaijan to punish social and political activists. Some activists during the review period were repeatedly arrested.

Administrative arrests were mainly used to restrict the freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, etc. In handling cases, the right to a fair trial was violated.

It also indicates the adoption by the European Court of Human Rights of decisions on the violation of the rights of 75 applicants in connection with administrative arrests.

The authors of the study recommend improving the legislation of Azerbaijan on freedom of assembly in accordance with European standards. The need to eliminate the practice of using administrative arrests as an instrument of political pressure is noted.

It is recommended to punish those who detain activists before rallies and deliver them to the police.

It calls on the authorities to take into account the requirements of the ECHR to ensure freedom of assembly.

Courts are recommended to objectively consider cases, and not be based only on reports and testimony of police officers. The courts should investigate all the evidence and circumstances; view the recordings of surveillance cameras, etc.

EMDC is the successor to the Election Monitoring Center established in 2001. The organization is headed by human rights activist and activist Anar Mammadli. -06D-