18 November 2016, 19:33
CoE's Secretary General condemns upheld verdict to Ilgar Mamedov
Thorbjørn Jagland, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), has treated the decision to leave the Azerbaijani oppositionist Ilgar Mamedov in custody as disrespect for the European Convention of Human Rights ECHR).
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Ilgar Mamedov, the leader of the movement "Republican Alternative" (ReAl), and Tofig Yagublu, a Deputy Chairman of the "Musavat" Party, were sentenced to seven and five years in prison, respectively. They were accused of organizing mass riots in the city of Ismayilly in 2013. Today, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has dismissed the cassation complaint lodged by Mamedov and Yagublu.
In May 2014, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) found the verdict to Mamedov politically motivated and related to the criticism of the authorities, obliging Azerbaijan to pay him a compensation of 22,000 euros. On January 26 this year, Mr Jagland stated that Azerbaijan had failed to fulfil the ECtHR's decision.
The CoE's Secretary General has noted that the Mamedov's case is not the case of Azerbaijan only, but "it concern all the 47 states members of the CoE, which are collectively responsible for non-fulfilment of the ECHR." This point will be promptly brought to the sitting of the CoE's Council of Ministers, he has added.
In the opinion of Rasul Jafarov, the head of the Human Rights Club, because of the non-fulfilment of the ECtHR's decision on Mamedov, the Council of Ministers may consider sanctions against Azerbaijan.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
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