“Azerbaijani government should have fulfilled the judgment within the set time frame; however, no remarkable measure has been taken. We are expecting the European Court to consider the case again and require the Azerbaijani govenrment to fulfill the judgment immediately.”
In the meanwhile, 13 member organizations of the International Partnership Group for Azerbaijan addressed an appeal to the CoE Ministerial Committee calling it to consider Mr Fatullayev’s case as a matter of critical priority and to include a debate on this case on the list of items for consideration during the next human rights meeting of the Committee from 8-10 March.
The appeal was signed by Reporters Without Borders, Article 19, Committee to Protect
Journalists, Freedom House and other international organizations.
On the 29th of December, 2009, 0.223 grams of heroin was reportedly found on Fatullayev in Prison #12 and on the 6th of July, 2010, Fatullayev was found guilty under article 234.1 ( possession of narcotics) of the Criminal Code. His sentence of two years and six months in prison began on the same date. His appeal against the decision was rejected.
In 2007, Eynulla Fatullayev, editor-in-chief of “Realniy Azerbaydjan” and “Gundelik Azerbaycan” newspapers, was sentenced to 8.5 years in jail for threatening terrorism, amongst other charges. However, on April 22, 2010, the European Court of Human Rights ruled for his immediate release and financial compensation from the Azerbaijani government (27,800 EUR). The Azerbaijani Supreme Court Plenum has only partially fulfilled the decision.