Published on 4 May 2026
THIRD SECTION
Applications nos. 18158/21 and 20684/21
Rauf ORUJOV and Others against Azerbaijan
and Emil ALIYEV against Azerbaijan
lodged on 29 March 2021 and 9 April 2021 respectively
communicated on 14 April 2026
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The applications concern alleged unfairness of the criminal proceedings against the applicants.
At the material time the applicants in application no. 18158/21 were officers of the army and the applicant in application no. 20684/21 was a soldier discharged from military service in 2011. In 2017 criminal cases were instituted against the applicants. They were charged with, among other offences, violation of combat duty procedures, treason and acts of sexual violence under Articles 150, 274 and 338 of the Criminal Code. On various dates the applicants were convicted as charged and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. The relevant appellate courts and the Supreme Court upheld the convictions.
Relying on Article 6 of the Convention, the applicants complain, in particular, that the domestic courts’ decisions were not adequately reasoned, that their convictions were based on self-incriminating statements they had provided under torture and ill-treatment during the interrogations and that the criminal proceedings against them were in breach of various fair-trial guarantees.
QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES
1. Did the applicants have a fair hearing in the determination of the criminal charges against them, in accordance with Article 6 § 1 of the Convention? In particular:
(i) was the applicants’ right to a reasoned decision respected?
(ii) were the principles of equality of arms and adversarial proceedings respected?
(iii) were the applicants afforded an adequate opportunity to contest the evidence against them, and to adduce evidence in support of their line of defence and to have such evidence assessed by the court?
2. Was the applicants’ right to legal assistance during the investigation stage of the proceedings respected? Were they able to defend themselves through legal assistance of their own choosing, as required by Article 6 § 3 (c) of the Convention?
3. Were applicants able to examine witnesses against them, as well to obtain the attendance of witnesses on their behalf, as required by Article 6 § 3 (d) of the Convention?
The parties are requested to submit any factual updates concerning the criminal cases against the applicants, as well as copies of all the documents, such as forensic reports, procedural decisions, witness statements, photographs, video recordings or any other document relating to the criminal proceedings.
APPENDIX
No.
Application no.
Case name
Lodged on
Applicant
Year of Birth
Place of Residence
Nationality
Represented by
1.
18158/21
Orujov and Others
v. Azerbaijan
29/03/2021
Rauf Rashid oglu
ORUJOV
1984
Sumgayit
Azerbaijani
Emin Gadir oglu ADILZADE
1993
Beylagan
Azerbaijani
Mushfig Seymur oglu AHMADLI
1990
Barda
Azerbaijani
Faig Alibay oglu AHMADOV
1990
Salyan
Azerbaijani
Nasif Mehman oglu ALIYEV
1993
Baku
Azerbaijani
Majid Kamal oglu GASIMOV
1987
Gazakh
Azerbaijani
Turan Marif oglu IBRAHIMLI
1998
Ismayilli
Azerbaijani
Mirpasha Zahid oglu MEHDIYEV
1995
Agjabadi
Azerbaijani
Atabay Mugabil oglu RAHIMOV
1994
Lerik
Azerbaijani
Yalchin
IMANOV
Sumgayit
Fariz
NAMAZLI
Sumgayit
2.
20684/21
Aliyev v. Azerbaijan
09/04/2021
Emil Abdulnasirovich ALIYEV
1991
Baku
Azerbaijani
Yalchin
IMANOV
Sumgayit