On December 20, the European Court announced its judgment on the case of Ramil Pirgurban v. Azerbaijan, lawyer Asabali Mustafayev has said.
According to the lawyer, the European Court has recognised the violation of Articles 3 (prohibition of torture), 5 (right to liberty and security) and 6 (right to a fair trial) of the Convention in respect of Pirgurban. The Court has acknowledged the violation of Article 3 both in terms of the factual circumstance (torture by police) and violation of the procedural grounds (failure to effectively investigate the fact).
The Court has ordered the applicant to be paid compensation amounting to 19,000 EUR.
Speaking of the merits of the case, lawyer Asabali Mustafayev said the following: “Sumgayit city police arrested car dealer Ramil Pirgurban and his two colleagues in 2010, and tried to foist drug trafficking charges on them with the purpose of extorting a large amount of money. Ramil Pirgurban and the others could not pay the money. In response, the three were charged with drug trafficking as a team. They beat up Ramil Pirgurban, poked him with a lit cigarette and gave him electric shock that burned his body, in order to force him to ‘admit’ the crime. The three were then brought before the court to be ordered detained, and there, the investigator in charge of the case committed several errors, including missing the 48-hour deadline.”
Two expert examinations were conducted at the lawyer’s request, and in the second case, the fact of Pirgurban’s subjection to torture was confirmed. Sumgayit City Court recognised the fact of torture. However, the prosecutor’s office refused to launch a criminal case after the decision entered into force. Thus, the case was taken to the European Court. At a later stage, the case was discontinued and Ramil Pirgurban was released.