Leader of Talysh separatists adjudges 20,000 euros from Azerbaijani authorities

On November 29, the European Court for Human Rights passed its final decision on the complaint of political emigrant, leader of Talysh separatists Alikram Gumbatov versus Azerbaijan.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the Council of Europe's Office in Baku that the Court had passed its decision in favour of A. Gumbatov, having found his claims to the Azerbaijani government to be fair.

The European Court has recognized A. Gumbatov's rightness on all the three points of his claim: unfair court trial, application of torture and absence of due medical treatment. The Court has obliged the Azerbaijani authorities to pay out 20,000 euros to A. Gumbatov.

For reference: In summer of 1993, Alikram Gumbatov proclaimed the "Talysh-Mugan Republic" in southern areas of Azerbaijan, where Talyshes are compactly living, and announced himself to be its President. He had been one of the founders of the National Front of Azerbaijan (NFA) and the Social-Democratic Party, and when the NFA had taken power - Deputy Minister of Defence.

After the defeat of the Front, Mr Gumbatov was hiding in the woods, then, arrested, but in October 1994 he managed to run away from the isolation facility of the Ministry of National Security (MNS). Until 1997 he was hiding in Russia, but then he was arrested there, extradited and sentenced to death penalty, but later - after cancellation of this punishment in Azerbaijan - to life imprisonment.

Mr Gumbatov was serving his term in the closed-type Gobustan prison, although he suffered from an open form of tuberculosis. On September 3, 2004, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev pardoned A. Gumbatov under a CE's persistent demand, but simultaneously deprived him of the status of Azerbaijani citizen and sent him to Holland, where his family had been earlier granted political shelter.