ECtHR upholds complaint of Shakir Rzakhanov, who is serving his life sentence in Azerbaijan

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld the complaint about inhumane treatment filed by Shakir Rzakhanov, who is serving his life sentence in Azerbaijan. The ECtHR pronounced that Shakir Rzakhanov is to receive the amount of 7500 euros as compensation for moral damages and the other amount of 2000 euros is to be paid to the applicant as compensation for legal costs.

The ECtHR has found that the conditions of detention of Shakir Rzakhanov in a one-man cell "exceeded the unavoidable level inherent in imprisonment, and they should be considered as inhuman and degrading treatment". This was explained to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Eldar Zeinalov, Director of the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan, representing the interests of the applicant at the ECtHR.

Shakir Rzakhanov was sentenced to death for murder in 1997. In 1998, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. From that time, he was detained in the Gobustan prison. In February 2008, he was placed in a one-man cell, reconstructed from the isolation ward.

Let us remind you that the report of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders "Persistence of testimony" published in 2010 also declared violation of rights of Shakir Rzakhanov.