Gumbatova's colleagues demand to reinstate her as lawyer

Foreign lawyers and rights defenders have criticized the decision of the Azerbaijani court to deprive Shakhla Gumbatova of her status of a lawyer; she is known for her participation in resonant cases for the protection of human rights. The US Secretary of State has called on to reinstate Gumbatova in her lawyer's status.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in November 2020, the Presidium of the Azerbaijani Bar Association (ABA) decided to suspend Shakhla Gumbatova's lawyer's powers. She treated this decision as harsh and unfair. Activists suggested that they wanted to remove Gumbatova from defending the rights of people persecuted for political reasons. On March 5, 2021, the Baku Administrative Court satisfied the ABA's request to terminate Shakhla Gumbatova's lawyer's powers.

The decision of the court to deprive Shakhla Gumbatova of her lawyer's status was condemned by the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI). This decision, according to a press release received on March 29 by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, is treated by the IBAHRI as disproportionate and politically motivated.

The press release quotes Michael Kirby, an IBAHRI's Co-Chair, who said that "the actions against Ms Gumbatova and other human rights lawyers in Azerbaijan demonstrate that they not only remain unprotected from violations of their professional rights, but are also subject to unjustified prosecution."

The deprivation of Shakhla Gumbatova of her lawyer's powers was also criticized by Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State. who called for the return of this status to her. "We are concerned that the human rights lawyer from Azerbaijan, Shakhla Gumbatova, was excluded from the legal profession on the eve of International Women's Day. Her work and the work of other human rights defenders in Azerbaijan should be welcomed not punished; and we urge to speed up her reinstatement in the ABA," Mr Blinken said in a message posted on March 26 on the website of the US Embassy in Baku.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 29, 2021 at 07:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.