18 January 2016, 15:34
ECtHR starts communicating on Ismayilova's complaints
Fariz Namazly, the advocate of the journalist Khadija Ismayilova, has received a notification from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the start of the communication with the Azerbaijani government on Khadija's complaints about interference with her privacy and defamation in local mass media.
On September 1 the Baku Court of Grave Crimes convicted Ismayilova and sentenced her to 7.5 years in prison. The journalist was found guilty of illegal entrepreneurship, tax evasion, misappropriation, embezzlement and abuse of power. The defence appealed against the sentence. On November 25, the Baku Court of Appeal (BCA) dismissed the complaint of Khadija Ismayilova and upheld the verdict of guilty.
According to Namazly, the case is about the spread on the Internet in March 2012 of video reports on Ismayilova's intimate life.
"In the course of a public inquiry, it was established that a video camera was installed in the flat, where the journalist stayed, by special services using the infrastructure of the City Telephone Exchange. However, the Prosecutor's Office has failed to identify the perpetrators. Meanwhile, the pro-governmental newspapers 'Yeni Azerbaijan', 'Iki Sakhil' and 'Ses' made use of fragments of the disseminated videos to accuse Khadija of immoral behaviour," said the advocate.
Ismayilova turned to the court in the context of a failure to conduct an effective investigation and filed a lawsuit against the newspapers that had discredited her.
"However, all three judicial instances have rejected her claims. Therefore, she appealed to the ECtHR with two applications," said Namazly.
According to his story, the government should respond to ECtHR's questions within 4 months.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
