Unlawful detention of members of a civic movement in Azerbaijan
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Rashad Hasanov, Zaur Gurbanli, Uzeyir Mammadli and Rashadat Akhundov are four activists and members of NIDA civic movement.
In 2013, they organized protests about governement actions.
The same year, they were all arrested and placed in custody for the organization of these events.
Judgment by the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court found that their arrest was politically motivated. The reason was to punish them for having criticized the government.
In December 2014, Gurbandli and Mammadli were released by a presidential pardon. In 2016, Hasanov and Akhundov were also released by a presidential pardon. However, the applicants in the case have still not been paid compensation ordered by the European Court.
Highly restrictive laws and practices continue to stifle NGOs in Azerbaijan and prevent them from carrying out work to support democracy and human rights. EIN continues to highlight this issue with the Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg.
In September 2019 the case was transferred by the government of Azerbaijan to the Supreme Court for review.
Useful links to the Rashad Hasanov and others v Azerbaijan case (Application No 48653/13):
Final judgment by the European Court of Human Rights (as of 7/9/2018)