BABAYEV AND OTHERS v. AZERBAIJAN

• Judgment Date: 02 June 2022
• ECLI: ECLI:CE:ECHR:2022:0602JUD007175013
• Counsel: MUSTAFAZADE R. ; MUSTAFAYEV A.
• Date: 02 June 2022
• Application Number: 71750/13
• Court: Fifth Section Committee (European Court of Human Rights)
• Respondent State: Azerbaiján
• Applied Rules: 11;11-1

FIFTH SECTION

CASE OF BABAYEV AND OTHERS v. AZERBAIJAN

(Application no. 71750/13)

JUDGMENT

STRASBOURG

2 June 2022

This judgment is final but it may be subject to editorial revision.

In the case of Babayev and Others v. Azerbaijan,

The European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), sitting as a Committee composed of:

Stéphanie Mourou-Vikström, President,
Lado Chanturia,
Arnfinn Bårdsen, judges,
and Martina Keller, Deputy Section Registrar,

Having regard to:

the application (no. 71750/13) against the Republic of Azerbaijan lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) on 4 September 2013 by three Azerbaijani nationals, Dayanat Sakhavat oglu Babayev (Dəyanət Səxavət oğlu Babayev – “the first applicant”), Arzuman Farhad oglu Majidov (Arzuman Fərhad oğlu Məcidov – “the second applicant”) and Abulfaz Adam oglu Gurbanli (Əbülfəz Adəm oğlu Qurbanlı – “the third applicant”), represented before the Court by Mr R. Mustafazade and Mr A. Mustafayev, lawyers based in Azerbaijan (the appended table contains further information);

the decision to give notice of the complaints concerning the alleged unfairness of the domestic proceedings (Article 6) and the alleged breach of the applicants’ right to freedom of peaceful assembly (Article 11) to the Azerbaijani Government (“the Government”), represented by their Agent, Mr Ç. Əsgərov, and to declare the remainder of the application inadmissible;

the parties’ observations;

Having deliberated in private on 5 May 2022,

Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

1. The present case concerns the allegedly unjustified interference with the applicants’ right to freedom of assembly on account of the dispersal of an unauthorised peaceful protest. Relying on Articles 6, 10 and 11 of the Convention, the applicants alleged that their rights were breached by the domestic authorities.

2. According to the applicants, on 4 and 5 March 2012 the mass media broadcast information to the effect that two persons, arrested on allegedly political grounds, had been subjected to ill-treatment while in custody. The applicants, together with...