{"id":1161,"date":"2012-12-11T22:53:07","date_gmt":"2012-12-11T22:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rcstaging.co.uk\/ehrac\/?post_type=case-studies&p=1161"},"modified":"2023-10-31T20:59:15","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T20:59:15","slug":"right-to-fair-trial-asadbeyli-and-others-v-azerbaijan","status":"publish","type":"case-studies","link":"http:\/\/ehrac.org.uk\/en_gb\/key-ehrac-cases\/right-to-fair-trial-asadbeyli-and-others-v-azerbaijan\/","title":{"rendered":"Asadbeyli and Others v Azerbaijan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t
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Cases No. 3653\/05, 14729\/05, 20908\/05, 26242\/05, 36083\/05 and 16519\/06
\n<\/a>Judgment date: 11 December 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

The eleven applicants were participants in, or\u00a0were alleged to be organisers of, an unauthorised\u00a0demonstration in Baku on 16 October\u00a02003 against the 2003 presidential election\u00a0results. According to reports, as the crowd\u00a0of protestors had marched towards the main\u00a0city square, they had damaged cars, buildings\u00a0and other urban property, and had attacked\u00a0police officers. A large number of riot police\u00a0and military personnel had then arrived in the\u00a0square, equipped with helmets, shields and\u00a0truncheons. Violent clashes followed between\u00a0the crowds and police. Hundreds of people\u00a0were consequently arrested, including the\u00a0applicants, who were charged and convicted\u00a0with \u201corganising or participating in public\u00a0disorder\u201d and the \u201cuse of violence against\u00a0public officials\u201d under the Criminal Code.\u00a0One of these applicants, Mr Ilgar Ibrahim\u00a0oglu Allahverdiyev (No. 36083\/05) was represented\u00a0by Prof. Bill Bowring with the support\u00a0of EHRAC. He was the chairman of several\u00a0NGOs, a magazine editor, and the Imam of\u00a0the Juma Mosque, which was closed by the\u00a0Azerbaijani authorities. He maintained that he\u00a0had left the demonstration before the violence erupted, and had observed the events from a\u00a0distance. He was nevertheless held in custody\u00a0for three months before being convicted of\u00a0the crimes above, and given a suspended\u00a0sentence of five years\u2019 imprisonment. The\u00a0conviction was upheld on appeal in hearings\u00a0which allegedly lasted only a few minutes.<\/p>\n

For the judgment on this case, please follow the link below.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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