11:27, 28 February 2020

ECtHR estimated compensation for Khadija Ismayilova's arrest at 20,000 euros

Khadija Ismayilova. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has obliged the Azerbaijani authorities to pay compensation to Khadija Ismayilova for her moral harm caused by keeping her in custody. The ECtHR has found that she had been persecuted for her investigative journalism about corruption in the Azerbaijani government.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2014, Ismayilova was detained on charges of driving her colleague, Tural Mustafaev, to a suicide attempt. Later, she faced a number of economic charges, and was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. However, later, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan replaced her real imprisonment for 3.5 years of conditional term with a five-year probation period. In May 2016, Ismayilova was released.

Ismayilova failed to achieve in court the lifting of the ban on her leaving the country, and filed a complaint to the ECtHR. Besides, in January 2019, the ECtHR granted Ismayilova's complaint against Azerbaijani authorities about interference with her private life.

In general, Ismayilova herself welcomed the decision of the ECtHR, but complained that the ECtHR has failed to provide grounds for punishing those responsible for falsifying her case.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 27, 2020 at 04:09 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent