The government must pay 14,500 euros in compensation to Ilkin Rustamzadeh
On February 23, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a decision on the complaint of the young activist Ilkin Rustamzadeh.
In the “Ilkin Rustamzade v. Azerbaijan” case, the violation of Articles 7 (inadmissibility of punishment not provided for by law), 10 (freedom of expression), and 18 (limits on the use of restrictions on rights) of the Convention was discussed.
The court ruled that the applicant’s rights to a fair trial and freedom of expression guaranteed by Articles 6 and 10 were violated in this case.
According to the decision, the government should pay Rustamzade 12,000 euros for moral damages and 2,500 euros for costs and expenses.
The applicant Ilkin Bekir oglu Rustamzadeh, a citizen of Azerbaijan, born in 1992, was one of the founders of the “Free Youth” organization established in 2011.
The complaint is related to the arrest of the applicant in May 2013, when he was a student of the Azerbaijan State University of Economics and a member of a civil society organization, and was charged with hooliganism for participating in the filming of the “Harlem Shake” dance, which was popular in Azerbaijan at that time, and for uploading the video to Youtube.
Following those events, Rustamzade was found guilty of hooliganism and preparation for a crime, organization of mass riots, membership in a group that illegally acquired and carried weapons, possessed explosives and devices, and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Based on Articles 6 (right to a fair trial), 7 (inadmissibility of extrajudicial punishment), 10 (freedom of expression), and 18 (restriction of the exercise of rights) of the Convention, the applicant has not committed any criminal activity before the ECHR, his conviction claimed that his rights were violated.
