ECtHR obliges Azerbaijan to pay 60,000 euros to Saribekyan family

The decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) obliges Azerbaijani authorities, apart from compensating the harm, to resume the investigation, said the advocate, Ara Gazaryan, who represented at the ECtHR the parents of Manvel Saribekyan, who perished in an Azerbaijani jail.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Manvel Saribekyan was captured by Azerbaijani military servicemen on September 11, 2010. At night on October 5, 2010, according to the Azerbaijani party, he committed suicide by hanging himself in a prison cell. His body was handed over to Armenia on November 4, 2010; and traces of torture were found thereon; in connection with which the Armenian party had stated that there was either a murder or a driving to suicide. On September 27, 2011, Manvel's parents submitted a complaint to the ECtHR.

The ECtHR has considered the complaint and concluded a violation of Articles 2 (the right to life) regarding the inadequacy of the inquiry into Manvel Saribekyan's death and 3 (prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), as follows from the decision posted on the ECtHR's website. The decision obliges Azerbaijan to compensate the moral harm to the parents in the amount of 60,000 euros, and to reimburse the legal costs and expenses in the amount of 2200 euros.

Apart from paying the above money, the ECtHR's decision obliges Azerbaijani authorities, in addition to paying damages, to resume the inquiry on whether the murder was committed on ethnic grounds, the advocate, Ara Gazaryan, has added.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 30, 2020 at 08:47 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.