ECtHR recognizes violation of Emin Guseinov's rights

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged the Azerbaijani authorities to pay the rights defender Emin Guseinov 15,000 euros of compensation for violation of his rights.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS) was detained on June 14, 2008, together with the members of the "Che Guevara Club", when he was videoing their meeting in the Baku café "Alaturka". At Police Station No. 22 he was subjected to physical violence; later, he was hospitalized in unconscious condition and spent nearly three weeks in hospital.

However, after an official inspection conducted by the MIA, it was reported that Guseinov had not been beaten up; and that his health deteriorated "as a result of earlier illnesses from acute nervous strain." Guseinov himself filed a lawsuit against the MIA, the Nasimi district police division and its station No. 22. The Nasimi District Court dismissed the lawsuit that demanded to recognize the violation of Guseinov's rights and pay monetary compensation.

According to a press release of the ECtHR, in relation to Guseinov, several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) had been violated. "The ECtHR has established that the applicant was subjected to ill treatment during detention and at the police station; and in this regard there was no efficient investigation. The Court has also revealed that he was temporarily deprived of his liberty; and the police by their intervention violated Guseinov's freedom of assembly," states the above press release.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.