Ismayilova claims compensation from Baku Prosecutor's Office

On August 17, the court will start considering the lawsuit lodged by Khadija Ismayilova against the Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Baku, at the request of which the journalist had been in custody on charges of driving her colleague to suicide. She claims a compensation for the moral harm caused to her in the amount of 18,000 US dollars.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in 2014 Khadija Ismayilova was detained on suspicion of inciting his colleague Tural Mustafaev to a suicide attempt. Later, she was also accused of a series of economic crimes. Ismayilova refused to plead guilty. On September 1, 2015, a Baku court sentenced her to 7.5 years in prison, acquitting her of incitement to suicide charge. On May 25, 2016, the Supreme Court (SC) of Azerbaijan replaced the real term of imprisonment with 3.5 years of conditional sentence with a trial period of five years.

Khadija Ismayilova believes that the judgment confirms that from December 5, 2014, to March 6, 2015, that is, for 91 days, she had been illegally kept in jail.

"All this time I had to pay for legal aid; and I had other expenses associated with my custody. Besides, for three months I could not work; and now I have the right to claim a compensation of my lost earnings for loss of profits,” said Khadija Ismayilova.

She claims compensation of her material expenses in the amount of 9030 manats (5600 US dollars), and 20,000 manats (12,500 US dollars) to compensate for her moral harm suffered.

With regard to Ismayilova we see a gross violation of Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – the right to liberty, Yalchin Imanov, her advocate, said in his comment on the journalist’s lawsuit.

In his view, should Azerbaijani courts fail to satisfy the lawsuit, Ismayilova will for sure win the case at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.