Natig Jafarov v Azerbaijan: persecution of political activists in Azerbaijan
/The case concerned Mr Jafarov’s arrest, pre-trail detention and confinement in a metal cage in court.
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Facts
The applicant, Natig Mehman oglu Jafarov is a co-founder of the political movement Republican Alternative Civic Movement (REAL). In 2016 REAL launched a campaign against amendments to the Constitution envisaged by a draft Referendum Act; such as extending the presidential term to seven years from five and introducing the post of vice-president. In August 2016 Mr Jafarov was arrested on the criminal charges of illegal entrepreneurship and aggravated use of power. He was accused of having failed to register grants for projects received between 2011 and 2014 and using the money fraudulently.
Mr Jafarov was placed in pre-trial detention for the period of four months, a decision which he appealed several days later. During the appeal hearing he was kept in a metal cage. The court of appeal confirmed the first-instance decision. Following these events and arrests of other members of the REAL movement, the organisation was forced to cease the campaign. The applicant was released in September 2016 after the prosecutor asked the court to discontinue the preventive measure as the grounds for his detention no longer existed. The referendum was held as planned and the constitutional amendments received overwhelming support.
Judgment of the European Court of Human Rights
The ECtHR found a violation of Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment), Article 5 (rights to liberty and security) and Article 18 (limitation on use of restriction on rights).
As regards Article 3, the Court stated that holding people in cages during court hearings is a treatment affront to human dignity and therefore breaches the prohibition of degrading treatment.
Considering Article 5, the Court noted that the Government had not provided any evidence for illegal entrepreneurship or abuse of power. It was concluded that the minimum standard for the reasonableness of a suspicion required for arrest and pre-trial detention had not been met and therefore a violation of Article 5 was found.
Regarding article 18 the Court examined whether there was proof that the authorities’ actions against Mr Jafarov had been driven by an ulterior motive. It noted that the applicant was a political activist criticising the government, his situation also had to be considered together with the arrests of other civil society activists and human rights defenders on similar grounds. Additionally, the arrest of the applicant was significant as it had taken place precisely during the active phase of the registration process for the referendum, which the REAL movement campaigned against. Further, he had been released after REAL withdrew the campaign.
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