Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. К.Zarbaliyeva / Khasnlar Hajiyev, the Azerbaijani judge in the European Court on human rights, stated on 9 July that the problems concerning inmates, whose death penalties were commuted to life imprisonment, should be settled by national legislation.
Hajiyev stated that the European Court settled the problem in compliance with European convention.
"But it does not mean that the problem cannot be settled within the framework of national legislation. This issue is not included in the jurisdiction of the European Court, it can be considered within the framework of the Azerbaijani Constitution, the laws of the country," Hajiyev said.
Ramiz Rzayev, the chairman of the Supreme Court, stated that the cases of inmates whose death penalties were commuted to life imprisonment are considered on an individual basis.
"One cannot pressure Court by hunger strikes and other actions. Prisoners should appeal to court for consideration of their cases. Sometimes false information is published by the press. Information about decreasing the terms of two imprisoned by 15 years was published. Actually, some mistakes were made in the resolution of court against these persons, which later were corrected by the Supreme Court," Rzayev said.
The life imprisoned inmates of Gobustan closed prison went on hunger strike. The prisoners consider that after abolishing the death penalty the term of their prison sentence must be changed to the gravest punishment of the Criminal Code which is 15 years imprisonment.
The resolution of the European Court on human rights due to Alikram Humbatov's lawsuit stated that the change of the death penalty with life imprisonment corresponds to the European convention.
