Letters to the European Court "have lost"

Baku / 05/14/19/Turan: Complaints sent to the European Court of Human Rights in the case of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly and the politician Nemat Panahly have not yet been delivered there, their lawyer Elchin Sadigov said.

Appeals to the European Court were sent from the Central Post Office of Azerbaijan, but more than a month and without any reason they were kept in the warehouse of "Azerpochta."

"Thus, the government of Azerbaijan wants to prevent sending complaints to the European Court. This is a violation of Article 34 of the European Convention on Human Rights," said the lawyer, adding that he filed a formal complaint to Azerpocht LLC.

When asked about the reason for the delay in correspondence, Azerpochta said they could not fine where the documents were sent.

Afghan Mukhtarly was taken to Tiflis from Baku on May 25, 2017 and charged under the Articles 318 (illegal crossing of the state border), 206 (smuggling) and 315 (resistance or abuse of power) of the Criminal Code.

Human rights activists declared Mukhtarly as a political prisoner.

On January 12, 2018, the Balakyan District Court sentenced Mukhtarly to six years in prison.

On October 12, 2018, Nemat Panahli was sentenced to 30 days in prison by a decision of the Nasimi District Court under the Article 535.1 (failure to comply with the legal requirements of police officers) of the Administrative Offenses Code. Panahli did not accept the charges and said that he was being interrogated. -21B-