Appeal Made for Priority Consideration of ‘Prisoners of Statue’ Case in European Court with Participation of International Organisations

On 1 February, ‘prisoners of statue’ Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov’s lawyers Elchin Sadigov and Zibeyda Sadigova appealed to international organisations via Facebook with regarding the consideration of the youth activists’ case in the European Court of Human Rights. The petition notes that the cases of the young people, each of whom has been sentenced to 10 years in jail, have been registered by the European Court.

“Giyas Ibrahimov’s complaint concerning the violation of his rights provided for in Articles 5, 6, 10 and 18 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been accepted by the European Court and assigned the number 63571/16 Ibrahimov v. Aze.

Giyas Ibrahimov’s complaint concerning the violation of his rights provided for in Articles 3, 6, 10 and 18 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been accepted by the European Court and assigned the number 2890/17 Ibrahimov v. Aze.

Bayram Mammadov’s complaint concerning the violation of his rights provided for in Articles 5, 6, 10 and 18 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been accepted by the European Court and assigned the number 74143/16 Mammadov v. Aze.

Bayram Mammadov’s complaint concerning the violation of his rights provided for in Articles 3, 6, 10 and 18 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms has been accepted by the European Court and assigned the number 2883/17 Mammadov v. Aze.”

The lawyers have called on international organisations, international human rights groups and international NGOs to join the cases mentioned above pending before the European Court as third parties. You can do this by referring to Article 36 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and to ask the European Court to consider those cases on a priority basis.

Background: NIDA activists Bayram Mammadov and Giyas Ibrahimov were arrested at night on May 10 after writing “Happy Slave Holiday” on ex-president Heydar Aliyev’s statue facing the Central Bank of Azerbaijan. The youths were charged under Article 234 (illegal purchase, storage or selling of drugs) of the Criminal Code. Both Ibrahimov and Mammadov were eventually sentenced to 10 years in jail by Baku Grave Crimes Court’s judgments dated respectively 25 October 2016 (presiding judge Anvar Seyidov) and 8 December 2016 (Presiding Judge Eynulla Valiyev).