Azerbaijani government recognises wrongdoing in case against labour activist

Human rights lawyer Fariz Namazli posted on Thursday that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) dropped four applicants’ cases against Azerbaijan from the docket after Baku admitted wrongdoing and agreed to pay a fine.

Namazli stated that on 28 May, the ECHR issued four judgments against Azerbaijan in 13 different cases.

‘In two of these judgments, the court accepted a friendly settlement between the parties, and in two cases, the Azerbaijan government recognised its own mistake, and after that, these cases were removed from the list. These cases also include the application of Aykhan Israfilov, a member of the Board of the Working Group’, he wrote.

According to Namazli, the court removed Israfilov’s case from the list because the Azerbaijani government admitted wrongdoing in the case.

In light of Azerbaijan’s admission of guilt, Namazli said the court settled for fining Azerbaijan €2,700 ($3,100) in compensation for moral damages and €450 ($510) in compensation for legal fees.

Israfilov was detained in August 2023 on accusations of storage and distribution of drugs and was sentenced to three years in prison. He is one of four members of the Labour Desk Trade Union Confederation who were arrested.

Third Azerbaijani labour activist detained in last month

A member of the Workers’ Table Trade Unions Confederation taking part in ongoing protests by delivery couriers has been arrested on drug charges, the third member of the group to be detained this month. Aykhan Israfilov, who is also a member of the Democracy 1918 Movement, was detained on 11 August and remanded into four months of pre-trial detention. The confederation’s chair, Afiadin Mammadov, also a member of Democracy 1918, was detained on 1 August on charges of disobeying police orders.

OC MediaIsmi Aghayev

Israfilov’s mother, Amina Israfilova, told OC Media that she hoped her son would be released on 28 May.

‘I thought that as he was detained for three years, and in August he will have spent two years in prison. Despite that, I never believed this accusation, but I believed that since the bulk of his prison sentence had passed, he would be released’, Aykhan’s mother said, referencing a recent mass amnesty issued by President Ilham Aliyev.

Earlier this week, Aliyev issued a pardon decree releasing 175 people from serving the remainder of their sentences.

‘It is difficult for me to go to meet Ayhan because I am disabled, and my son Aykhan was mainly looking after me. But now everything has changed. My monthly pension is ₼300 ($176), and covers the costs of the prison, this amount is very small’, she emphasised.

Will Israfilov be released?

The apparent decision from the ECHR comes after a little more than a month after Aliyev questioned the court’s relevance and if Baku would continue to adhere to its decisions.

In April, Aliyev stated that ‘if Azerbaijan could not participate in the election of judges for the ECHR, then it would consider all ECHR decisions to be invalid’.

According to a press release by the official presidential administration, Aliyev argued that ‘none of the decisions of the European Court are valid for us because we were deprived of our voting rights’.

Aliyev’s speech was a response to a January 2024 decision by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to approve the credentials of the Azerbaijani delegation, citing Baku’s failure to fulfill its basic obligations arising from membership in the Council of Europe.

Following this, there have been reports that compensation awarded by the ECHR has not been paid out to plaintiffs in Azerbaijan.

‘I'm proud of my son because he defended the rights of the workers. I know he did not do anything bad. And I think he would be released’, told Aykhan's mother, showing that she has not lost her hope.

Azerbaijani labour rights activist sentenced to 8 years in prison

Afiaddin Mammadov was convicted of intentionally causing serious bodily harm and hooliganism and sentenced to eight years in prison.

OC MediaAytan Farhadova