The ECHR found the criminal prosecution of Elgiz Gakhramanov unlawful.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled the criminal prosecution of Azerbaijani activist Elgiz Gahraman (Gahramanov) in a 2016 drug case unlawful. The ECHR ordered the Azerbaijani government to pay him over 12,000 euros in compensation.

As reported by the Caucasian Knot, Elgiz Gahramanov was arrested in August 2016 on charges of large-scale drug trafficking and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison in January 2017. Activists cited sarcastic Facebook posts about the constitutional referendum, which took place on September 26, 2016, as the true reason for the criminal case. The Supreme Court of Azerbaijan reduced his sentence to three years in prison. In March 2019, Gahramanov was released early following a pardon.

The European Court of Human Rights today announced its decision on the complaint of Elgiz Gahramanov, a member of the Nida (Cry) movement, regarding the ineffective investigation of his complaints regarding police violence, as well as violations of his right to a fair trial and detention without reasonable suspicion.

Gahramanov's complaint related to his criminal prosecution after he criticized the 2016 constitutional amendments proposed to lower the age limit for presidential candidates.

The activist, in particular, wished for the life expectancy of a potential presidential candidate to be as short as that of the medieval Safavid ruler Shah Ismail. According to the applicant, the authorities extrapolated his statements on social media to the son of the current president, and for this thought, he was arrested on false charges, according to the ECHR ruling.

In his complaint, Gahraman also stated that the charge of illegally trafficking 3,315 grams of heroin against him was fabricated and that he was forced to confess under physical force at the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan.

The ECHR found a violation of the procedural part of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (prohibition of torture and inhuman treatment), namely the government's obligation to effectively investigate allegations of violence. The Court also found that Gahraman's complaint about being held in a metal cage during his trial was well-founded and deemed it "degrading treatment in violation of Article 3 of the Convention."

Furthermore, the ECHR found that Gahraman's arrest and detention violated Article 5.1 of the European Convention, which guarantees the right to security of person, since no prima facie evidence of the activist's guilt was presented. The decision emphasizes that the case file did not clearly indicate how the "operational information" about Gahraman's involvement in drug trafficking was obtained, nor was the identity of the source or the reliability of the information.

The investigation was largely limited to searches, and no additional evidence linking Gahraman to drug trafficking was presented, the ECHR decision notes.

Azerbaijani national courts inadequately assessed complaints regarding the circumstances of the evidence against Gahraman's acquisition and its reliability. In this regard, the ECHR also found a violation of Article 6.1 (right to a fair trial) of the Convention.

Elgiz Gahraman also stated that the main purpose of his detention was punishment for his socio-political activism and activities in Nida. The ECHR assessed this complaint under Article 18 of the Convention (application of restrictions on rights for purposes not provided for in the Convention) and found a violation of this article.

The ECHR ordered Azerbaijan to pay Elgiz Gahraman €10,000 in compensation for non-pecuniary damage and €2,054.81 in legal costs.

The Strasbourg court combined the activist's two complaints—one regarding inhumane treatment by the police and one regarding unlawful arrest—into one proceeding, Fariz Gasimli, lawyer who represented Gahraman at the ECHR, explained to a Caucasian Knot correspondent.

He noted that the court initially sentenced Gahraman to 5.5 years' imprisonment for large-scale drug trafficking without substantiated evidence. The Supreme Court subsequently mitigated the sentence, changing the charge to a more lenient one (illegal acquisition or possession of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances without intent to sell) and reducing the sentence to three years' imprisonment. However, according to the lawyer, this charge was also not based on credible evidence, a fact confirmed by the ECHR.

The lawyer added that Gahraman has once again faced unlawful criminal prosecution: the case against him is currently pending in court, and the activist is under police surveillance.

Azerbaijan's authorized representative to the ECHR, Chingiz Asgarov, was unavailable for comment.