The Strasbourg Court grants the appeal of the poet-satirist Mirza Sakit

On November 12 the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced the decision on the complaint of the poet-satirist Mirza Sakit (Sakit Zahidov)  against the  sentence imposed on him in 2006. He was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of drug possession. The court's decision, according to information published on the website of the ECHR, it is noted that the investigation in his case  was "unfair", he was convicted on the basis of "doubtful evidence".

For example, a search of clothing of Sakit was made 20 minutes after  the detention  in the police office, and during that time they might  throw drugs  in his clothes.  Sakit was  deprived of the opportunity to contact and invite a trusted lawyer. Azerbaijani courts ignored these facts and complaints  of Sakit.

The ECHR found a violation of the rights of Sakit under  the Article 6 (right to a fair trial), and decided to pay him compensation of 9,000 euros for non-pecuniary damage and 3,048 euros for reimbursement of legal expenses.

Mirza Sakit was arrested on 23 June 2006, and charged with drug possession. On 4 October, 2006 the  Serious Crimes Court sentenced Sakit to three years in prison. According to human rights activists, the case was fabricated because of satirical poems in which Zahidov ridiculed defects of authorities. Sakit was released under an amnesty declared by the Parliament of Azerbaijan for three months until the end of his sentence. -06D--