Ilgar Mamedov demands suspending powers of Azerbaijan in the Council of Europe

Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the "Republican Alternative" (ReAl) Party, has appealed to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with a call to suspend the powers of the Azerbaijani government in this structure. He motivates his step by the failure of the authorities of the country to enforce the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in relation to him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 26, 2019, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe called on the Azerbaijani authorities to annul the convictions and remove the criminal records from eight activists, collectively known as the "Ilgar Mamedov's group", whose rights violations were recognized by the ECtHR.

On January 2, 2020, Ilgar Mamedov, the ReAl leader, sent an official presentation to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe calling for launching the procedures of suspending the powers of the Azerbaijani government in the Council of Europe.

"Over many years, Azerbaijani authorities have failed to adopt an acquittal in relation to me; and thus prevented me from participating in the parliamentary elections. They failed to restore my right to be elected," Mr Mamedov has stated.

"Given the fact that by its separate decision, the ECtHR recognized that Azerbaijan was the only country that had failed to fulfil its obligations to the Council of Europe; and this decision was related to my case, I hereby ask the Committee of Ministers to start the procedure of suspending the Azerbaijan's powers in this organization, until they fully enforce the ECtHR's decisions," Ilgar Mamedov has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 4, 2020 at 06:54 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.