Communicated on 23 May 2018
FIFTH SECTION
Applications nos. 34717/10 and 8791/11
Sardar ALIBEYLI against Azerbaijan
lodged on 9 June 2010 and 2 August 2010 respectively
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASES
The applications concern two separate sets of proceedings resulting in criminal convictions of the same applicant, a journalist, for defamatory articles. In particular:
Application no. 34717/10: By a judgment of 22 July 2009, the Nizami District Court convicted the applicant under Article 148 of the Criminal Code (insult) and sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment, in the framework of private prosecution proceedings initiated by an official of the Ministry of National Security who alleged that the applicant had used insulting and defamatory language in his respect in one of his articles. After a series of appeals, the conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court on 9 December 2009.
Application no. 8791/11: By a judgment of 20 July 2009, the Nizami District Court convicted the applicant under Article 147.2 of the Criminal Code (slander by accusation of having committed a serious or especially serious criminal offence) and sentenced him to seven months’ corrective work with deduction of ten per cent of his monthly income in favour of the State, in the framework of private prosecution proceedings initiated by several officers of the Internal Forces who alleged that the applicant had slandered them in a series of articles by accusing them of having committed serious criminal offences such as embezzlement of public funds. Following an appeal, the Baku Court of Appeal upheld the conviction, but re-qualified it under Article 147.1 of the Criminal Code (slander) and changed the sentence to four months’ imprisonment, having merged it with the three months’ imprisonment sentence imposed in the other set of proceedings (see application no. 34717/10 above). On 3 February 2010 the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and sentence.
QUESTIONS tO THE PARTIES
1. In respect of both applications, have there been violations of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression, contrary to Article 10 of the Convention? In particular, were the interferences justified in terms of Article 10 § 2? Were the sanctions imposed on the applicant proportionate to the aims pursued (see Cumpǎnǎ and Mazǎre v. Romania [GC], no. 33348/96, ECHR 2004‑XI, and Mahmudov and Agazade v. Azerbaijan, no. 35877/04, 18 December 2008)?
2. The parties are requested to submit translations into English or French of the specific extracts of the impugned articles written by the applicant which led to his criminal convictions.
APPENDIX
Applications nos. 34717/10 and 8791/11.
Sardar ALIBEYLI is an Azerbaijani national, lives in Baku and, in both applications, is represented by both E. Sadiqov (principal representative in application no. 34717/10) and R. Hajili (principal representative in application no. 8791/11).
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy