European Court Declares Rasul Jafarov’s Arrest Illegal

The European Court of Human Rights today announced a decision on the case of the Azerbaijani human rights activist Rasul Jafarov, sentenced to 6 years in prison on charges of economic crimes.

The ECHR decided that in respect of Jafarov the following articles were violated: 5 (liberty and security of person) and 18 (limitation or restriction of rights).

In addition, there was a violation of Article 34 (right of individual petition) that occurred after the removal of his lawyer Khalid Bagirov.

The court decided that these violations strengthen arguments that the purpose of Jafarov’s prosecution was a desire to silence him and punish him for human rights activities.

The arrest and detention of Jafarov in 2014 was conducted against the background of increasingly stringent legislation in the field of NGO activities and the tightening policy of the authorities against civil society.

In particular there have been numerous statements by senior officials and articles in the pro-government media accusing local NGOs and their leaders (including Jafarov) of their treason and working for foreign states.

The court concluded that the facts relied on by the Azerbaijani prosecutor's office were not sufficient to justify the alleged criminal offenses of Jafarov, namely, illegal business, tax evasion and abuse of power.

The court ruled that the Azerbaijani government should pay Jafarov compensation of 25,000 euros and another 7,448 euros for pecuniary damage. -06D-