ECtHR requests comments from Baku about non-transparency of state bodies

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg has started communicating on ten complaints lodged from Azerbaijan in connection with violations of the right of people to have access to information about the work of state institutions. The ECtHR has provided the Azerbaijani authorities with three months to answer its questions.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Khalid Agaliev, a member of the Institute of Media Rights (IMR), the lawyers of which had prepared complaints to the ECtHR, that on December 26, they received an official notification from the ECtHR that before December 16, the Court had sent questions to Azerbaijani authorities on applicants' cases.

According to his version, the complaints had been filed in connection with the restriction of the applicants' rights to receive information. State bodies either failed to respond to requests, or provided more restricted information than demanded by the law, said Agaliev.

Apart from Agaliev, complaints were prepared by IMR lawyers – the advocates Rashid Gadjily, Zibeida Sadygova and Fariz Namazly.

Mr Namazly had himself addressed the executive power of the Binagadi District for the data about the utilization of state budget funds in 2010.

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