“The Azerbaijani government received an inquiry in relation to the claimant against the government, sent to the European Court by Rovshan Mahmudov, the editor chief of Mukhalifat newspaper,” Intigam Aliyev, the lawyer defending the rights of journalists at the European Court, told Trend.
Complainants accuse the government of violation of their rights envisaged in items 6 and 10 of the European Convention regarding fair legal investigation and freedom of expression. According to Aliyev, the government must reply the inquiry till late January 2006.
Azerbaijani MP Jalal Aliyev filed a lawsuit against Rovshan Mahmudov and Yashar Aghazada, the contributor of the newspaper, at the Yasamal district court. The court sentenced them to 5 months of imprisonment on items 17.1 (defamation) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code on 20 May 2003, but then released them from punishment.