ECtHR starts communication on complaints of Azerbaijani activists

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has started its communication with the Azerbaijani government on two sets of cases involving complaints about violations of the freedom of assembly and refusal to register NGOs. The ECtHR offers the authorities to answer the asked questions within three months.

Today, the lawyer Khalid Bagirov and rights defender Intigam Aliev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent about the start of the communication.

According to Khalid Bagirov, on February 13, he received a notification from the ECtHR about the start of communication on the case of the six citizens of Azerbaijan, who were detained in August 2014 for taking part in the flash mob in the town of Sheki in defence of the imprisoned rights defender Rasul Jafarov.

"The police have accused these persons of violating the rules of holding pickets and rallies. But it was only a flash mob: they just unfolded posters with slogans in support of Jafarov," said Bagirov.

Another case, on which the ECtHR has launched communication, concerns the complaint lodged by the founders of eight NGOs.

"On far-fetched reasons, the MoJ refused to register the NGOs, not loyal to the authorities. Many NGOs can’t get registered for years," rights defender Intigam Aliev told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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