Four international NGOs address ECtHR in case of Emin Guseinov

Four international NGOs have submitted a statement to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in support of Azerbaijani journalist and rights defender Emin Guseinov. The NGOs request the ECtHR to recognize the revocation of his Azerbaijani citizenship as a persecution for freedom of expression.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since August 18, 2014, Emin Guseinov, the executive director of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), had to flee from reprisals and hide at the Embassy of Switzerland in Baku. Emin Guseinov began to hide after the authorities arranged a search at the IRFS office headed by him and seized office equipment and documents. On June 13, 2015, Emin Guseinov left Azerbaijan on a plane of Swiss Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter. On January 14, 2016, Emin Guseinov complained to the ECtHR about the revocation of his Azerbaijani citizenship.

The NGOs International Media Support (IMS), the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and the International Senior Lawyers Project (ISLP) submitted to the ECtHR the joint third-party intervention in the case of Emin Guseinov.

"Emin Guseinov, now living in exile in Switzerland, is a prominent journalist and human rights defender. He is the director and co-founder of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), a leading Azerbaijani NGO set up in 2006 to protect freedom of expression," states the joint press release of four NGOs provided to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by the IMS on September 25.

The authors of the press release note that in his complaint to the ECtHR, Emin Guseinov argues he has been illegally stripped off his citizenship by the Azerbaijani government in retaliation for his critical views.

NGO members address the problem of using denationalization as a tool of political persecution. According to the document submitted to the ECtHR, the deprivation of citizenship contributes to "silencing dissenting voices within the wider context of oppression of journalists, media and civil society actors in Azerbaijan."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 26, 2018 at 11:27 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.