CE launches investigation against Azerbaijan in Ilgar Mamedov's case

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CE) has initiated proceedings against Azerbaijan in connection with the detention in custody of oppositionist Ilgar Mamedov despite the decision pronounced by the Strasbourg Court. The procedure, introduced in 2010, is used by the CE Committee of Ministers for the first time, reports the CE press service in its official statement.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 16, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) recognized violation of the right of Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the Azerbaijani movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl), to a fair trial and pronounced the decision to pay him 10,000 euros of compensation. In May 2014, the ECtHR obliged Azerbaijan to pay 22,000 euros in compensation to the oppositionist on his complaint of the illegal arrest.

The ECtHR came to the conclusion that "no reliable evidence of the Ilgar Mamedov's guilt was presented at the internal criminal trial in Azerbaijan, and that casted doubt on the validity of the accusation against the complainant and his pre-trial detention in custody," the CE press service report in its statement.

Since December 2014, the CE Committee of Ministers called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ilgar Mamedov. "However, within three years from the date of the court's decision, the complainant remains in custody on the basis of a falsified criminal case," reports the CE's statement.

Azerbaijani rights defender Rasul Jafarov, the leader of the Human Rights Club, has called the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on the Ilgar Mamedov's case "extremely important."

"The CE Committee of Ministers has finally taken an extremely important step in the Ilgar Mamedov's case. Many people did not believe that would happen. However, the CE Committee of Ministers has demonstrated its principled position by actually launching a mechanism to apply sanctions against the Azerbaijani government for its failure to comply with the ECtHR's decision," Rasul Jafarov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

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