ECtHR accepts complaint about pre-trial arrest of Khadija Ismayilova

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has given the Azerbaijani government more than four months to answer the ECtHR's questions concerning the pre-trial arrest of Khadija Ismayilova. The Strasbourg Court expects the response from Baku officials till January 15, 2016. On September 8, the ECtHR accepted the journalist's complaint as a priority.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 1, the Baku Court of Grave Crimes pronounced the guilty verdict against Khadija Ismayilova and sentenced her to 7.5 years of imprisonment. The journalist was found guilty of illegal entrepreneurial activities, tax evasion, embezzlement, and abuse of office. Meanwhile, the Court acquitted Khadija Ismayilova under Article "incitement to suicide" of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Representatives of the Council of Europe (CE) and the OSCE demanded to release Khadija Ismayilova.

According to advocate Fariz Namazly, Article 5 (right to liberty and security) questions the legality of the arrest of Khadija Ismayilova.

Advocate Fariz Namazly sees violation of the Khadija Ismayilova's rights under Article 6 (right to a fair trial) in the fact that the higher Azerbaijani courts have not cancelled the decision on pre-trial arrest, despite the absence of compelling primary evidence against the journalist. The advocate has also noted that the defence raises the question of the violation of the Khadija Ismayilova's rights under Article 10 (freedom of expression), since Fariz Namazly associates the prosecution of Khadija Ismayilova with her professional activities as a journalist and, in particular, with the investigation into the facts of corruption in the government of Azerbaijan.

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