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The communication, commenced in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the case of the murder of the Azerbaijani journalist and editor-in-chief of the magazine Monitor, Elmar Huseynov, had a “chilling effect” on Azerbaijan authorities who did not expect such a blow ahead of the Parliamentary Elections, government sources say, according to the newspaper Azadlig.

Azadlig notes that ECHR started communication on Ms Rushaniya Huseynova’s application, the widow of the murdered journalist. The ECHR has already requested the Government of Azerbaijan to submit copies of all documents of the criminal case. “The request also refers to the Azerbaijani authorities’ involvement in the journalist’s murder. This is what the authorities are worried about,” the source told Azadlig.

The Azerbaijani authorities explain the ECHR’s investigation of Elmar Huseynov’s murder by the tense relations between Baku and the West, according to the source.

“The Government of Azerbaijan understands that the investigation of the case may become a serious headache for them. Being aware of the international community’s big interest in the case, the authorities decided to use any method to prevent the investigation. But the government will hardly succeed,” the source said.

The newspaper notes that earlier the ECHR had ruled that the Azerbaijan’s denial to issue a passport to the leader of the opposition party Azerbaijan Popular Front, Ali Karimli, was a violation of law. “On the National Press Day of Azerbaijan, the ECHR said it started the proceedings regarding Elmar Huseynov’s murder,” Azadlig stresses.

According to the ECHR statement of facts published on its website, the application of Ms Rushaniya Huseynova, Elmar Huseynov’s widow – who currently lives in Norway – was lodged on 17 February 2010.

The statement says Ms Huseynova is represented before the Court by Mr K. Rognlien, a lawyer practicing in Oslo. According to Huseynova’s application, various civil and criminal proceedings had been brought against Elmar Huseynov for publication of critical articles about the President of the Republic, the members of the Government and other State officials. In total, thirty-four proceedings were instituted against him. Moreover, the publication of his magazine was more than once prevented by the domestic authorities.

According to the applicant, her husband was regularly threatened because of his critical articles. In particular, in January 2004 a police officer threatened him with death asking to stop writing on Azerbaijan’s President and his clan.

On 2 March 2005 in the evening, when Elmar Huseynov returned home from work, he was shot with seven bullets in the building where his flat was located. The President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, condemned the murder and qualified it as a “big spot” on the country’s reputation and a “blow to democratic development of Azerbaijan”.

According to the facts, the Serious Crime Investigation Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office instituted criminal proceedings. On 4 March 2005, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (“the MIA”) and the Ministry of National Security (“the MNS”) issued a joint statement officially informing the public of the institution of criminal proceedings. On 6 April 2005, the murder was re-qualified under Articles 277 (act of terror) and 228.1 (illegal possession of weapons) and the investigation of the case was removed from the Prosecutor General’s Office to the MNS. In a joint statement of 4 May 2005 the Prosecutor General’s Office, the MIA and the MNS informed the public that a Georgian national, Tahir Khubanov, had been identified as the person involved in the murder. The statement further noted that he left Azerbaijan immediately after the murder and was internationally wanted.

The statement also pointed out that the investigation was carried out in collaboration with the FBI of the US and the Central Security Department of the Republic of Turkey. On 20 May 2005, the investigation officially informed the public of the identification of another perpetrator of the murder, Teymuraz Aliyev, who was a Georgian national.

The Georgian authorities refused to give up Teymuraz Aliyev and Tahir Khubanov to them explaining it by the lack of evidence of their involvement in the murder. Later, Haji Mammadov, who was the leader of a gangster group and a Colonel at the Azerbaijani MIA Criminal Investigation at the same time, issued a statement about the organization of the murder. The journalist Eynulla Fatullyaev reported on another version. He claimed the murder had been organized by the MNS Colonel Akif Chovdarov, who had himself confessed that to him in the MNS jail, where Fatullayev was held arrested in 2007. Huseynov’s colleagues, human rights defenders and a number of public figures in Azerbaijan also believe that the authorities were involved in the famous journalist’s murder. After the murder, the journalist’s wife emigrated to Norway with their little son.

Related:
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