CASE OF BAYRAMLI v. AZERBAIJAN
Violation of Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association (Article 11-1 - Freedom of peaceful assembly);Violation of Article 6+6-3 - Right to a fair trial (Article 6 - Criminal proceedings;Article 6-1 - Fair hearing) (Article 6 - Right to a fair trial;Article 6-3 - Rights of defence;Article 6-3-b - Adequate facilities;Adequate time;Article 6-3-c - Legal assistance of own choosing);Violation of Article 5 - Right to liberty and security (Article 5-1 - Lawful arrest or detention)
Carlo Ranzoni;Khanlar Hajiyev
4. The applicant was born in 1962 and lives in Baku. At the material time she was deputy chairperson of one of the main opposition parties in the country, the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan. 5. On 17 April 2011 and 26 January 2013 the applicant participated in demonstrations organised by the opposition in Baku. 6. On 11 April 2011, the organisers had given the relevant authority, the Baku City Executive Authority (“the BCEA”), notice of the demonstration of 17 April 2011. It appears that no prior notice was given to the BCEA by the organisers of the demonstration of 26 January 2013. Information about that assembly was disseminated through Facebook or the press. 7. The BCEA refused to authorise the demonstration of 17 April 2011 at the place indicated by the organisers and proposed a different location on the outskirts of Baku – the yard of a driving school situated in the 20th residential area of the Sabail District. The BCEA noted that the place proposed by the organisers was in an area with heavy traffic. 8. Nevertheless, the organisers decided to hold the demonstrations in the centre of Baku. 9. According to the applicant, the demonstrations were intended to be peaceful and were conducted in a peaceful manner. The participants of the demonstration of 17 April 2011 were demanding free and fair elections and democratic reforms in the country, and protesting about impediments to freedom of assembly. The participants of the demonstration of 26 January 2013 were condemning the use of force by the police against participants of previous demonstrations. 10. The applicant attended both demonstrations, but shortly after they had begun the police started to disperse them. In both cases the applicant was arrested during the dispersal operation and taken to a police station. 11. According to the applicant, during her arrest in the first case several police officers twisted her arms behind her back, held her head down and forced her to move in that position for 20-25 metres in the direction of a police car. As a result, the muscles in her neck, arms, back and other parts of her body hurt. At the police station she was kept handcuffed. In a photograph, submitted to the Court by the applicant and allegedly taken at the time of her arrest, the applicant is shown with both arms twisted behind her back by two police officers and with her body bent as a result of that restraint. 12. In both cases on the day of the applicant’s arrest, an “administrative offence report” (inzibati xəta haqqında protokol) was issued in respect of her. In the first case the report stated that by deliberately failing to comply with a lawful order from the police, the applicant had committed an administrative offence under Article 310.1 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“the CAO”). In the second case the applicant was charged with an administrative offence under Article 298.1 of the CAO (breach of the rules on the organisation and holding of assemblies, by an assembly organiser). 13. According to the applicant, she was never served with copies of the administrative offence reports or with other documents from her case files. In neither case was she given access to a lawyer after the arrest or while in police custody. 14. In the first case the applicant was brought before the Nasimi District Court on 18 April 2011, the day following her arrest. In the second case she was brought before the Sabail District Court on 26 January 2013, the day of her arrest. 15. According to the applicant, the hearing before the court in both cases was very brief. In the second case members of the public were not allowed inside the courtroom, even though the court had not taken a formal decision to close the hearing to the public. 16. According to the applicant, in neither case was she given an opportunity to hire a lawyer of her own choice. 17. State-funded lawyers were appointed to assist the applicant. The records of the court hearings in both cases show that in their oral submissions the State-funded lawyers briefly stated that the applicant was not guilty and/or asked the respective court to discontinue the case. 18. In both cases the courts questioned only the police officers who, according to the official records, had arrested the applicant or issued an administrative offence report in respect of her. The police officers testified that the applicant had attempted to stage an unauthorised demonstration, and, in the second case, had also incited others to participate in such an assembly. 19. In the first case the first-instance court found that the applicant had participated or attempted to participate in an unauthorised demonstration. In the second case the court found that the applicant had incited people to participate in an unlawful assembly and, by doing so, had violated the rules on organising and holding assemblies. 20. By a decision of 18 April 2011 the first-instance court in the first case convicted the applicant under Article 310.1 of the CAO and sentenced her to five days’ “administrative” detention. By a decision of 26 January 2013 the court in the second case convicted the applicant under Article 298.1 of the CAO and sentenced her to a fine of 2,000 manats (AZN). 21. On unspecified dates the applicant lodged appeals before the Baku Court of Appeal, arguing that her convictions were in violation of her rights because the demonstrations in which she had participated had been peaceful. She also complained that her arrests had been unlawful and that the hearings before the respective first-instance courts had not been fair. 22. In the first case the applicant also requested the Court of Appeal to order a forensic examination of the injuries she had allegedly sustained during her arrest. The court disregarded that request. The court also disregarded the applicant’s requests to examine video recordings of the arrest made by some journalists; to question the police officers appearing in those video recordings; and to demand the medical record issued in respect of the applicant in the detention facility where she had served her administrative detention. 23. In the first case the applicant was assisted before the Baku Court of Appeal by a lawyer of her own choice. In the second case she was not represented by a lawyer. 24. In both cases, on 22 April 2011 and 6 February 2013 respectively, the Baku Court of Appeal dismissed the applicant’s appeal and upheld the decision of the first-instance court. 25. On an unspecified date the applicant lodged a complaint before the General Prosecutor’s Office asking it to conduct an investigation into illtreatment allegedly committed by the police during her arrest. 26. By a letter of 25 May 2011 the General Prosecutor’s Office informed the applicant’s lawyer that the complaint had been forwarded to the Baku City prosecutor’s office for examination. The letter also instructed the Baku City prosecutor’s office to inform the lawyer about the results of the examination. 27. On an unspecified date, the applicant was summoned to the Nasimi District prosecutor’s office and questioned in connection with her complaint of ill-treatment. 28. According to the applicant, neither she nor her lawyer was informed about any actions taken by the authorities to investigate her complaint. It was only after making enquiries about the outcome of the investigation, in January 2012, that the applicant managed to obtain a copy of an investigator’s decision of 16 June 2011 refusing to open a criminal case. 29. The applicant did not lodge a complaint with a court against the decision of 16 June 2011.