Ilgar Mammadov
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Ilgar Mammadov (; born June 14, 1970) is an opposition politician in
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
, and one of the leaders of the Republican Alternative Party. Mammadov was considered a likely candidate for the Presidential elections in October 2013, but was arrested in February 2013, prior to the race, in a move that was widely seen as politically motivated. In March 2014, Mammadov was sentenced to 7 years in jail. He was released from prison on August 13, 2018. On 23 April 2020, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan has acquitted Ilgar Mammadov and 300,000 manat compensation will be paid.


Life

He was born in 1970. After serving in the Soviet Army from 1988 to 1989, he studied history at
Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...
and political science at
Central European University Central European University (CEU; , ) is a private research university in Vienna. The university offers graduate and undergraduate programs in the social sciences and humanities, which are accredited in Austria and the United States. The univ ...
in Budapest. In 1994-2000 he was a researcher at
Baku State University Baku State University (BSU) (BDU; ) is a public university located in Baku, Azerbaijan. Established on 1 September 1919 by the Parliament of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, the university started with faculties of history and philology, physics ...
. He was one of the founders of the National Committee for European Integration and the first chairman of the Committee. He is director of the Council of Europe's School of Political Studies in Azerbaijan. He is also a member of the advisory boards of the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation and Revenue Watch Institute. Since 2006, Ilgar Mammadov has been a member of the Board of the
Open Society Institute Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...
of Azerbaijan.


Political career

Mammadov's previous political affiliation was with the National Independence Party where he served as Deputy Chairman between 1998 and 2003. He left the party in 2003 due to growing policy disagreements. Mammadov was banned from TV and radio after his 19 March 2009 republicanist speech on ANS TV live. He had protested against the conduct of the 18 March 2009 referendum that removed term limits from the President's office, and thus permitted, in principle, a President for life.


Arrest and imprisonment

Mammadov was arrested on February 4, 2013, after traveling to Ismayilli, a town in Northern Azerbaijan in which there had been civil disturbance, following alleged repression by the local governor. He subsequently was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, in March 2014. A number of countries and organizations have protested against this sentencing. The US State Department noted "significant irregularities in witness testimony and court proceedings. Our observations led to the conclusion that the verdicts were not based on the evidence and were politically motivated." The Foreign Office of the United Kingdom also expressed concern, saying that they were "troubled by a number of aspects of the conduct of the trial which reinforce the impression that the verdicts were politically motivated.", date=March 24, 2014} Similar statements were released by France, the European Union and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The
Natural Resource Governance Institute The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) is an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving countries' governance over their natural resources (in particular oil, gas and minerals) to promote sustainable and inclusive develo ...
, a think tanks, also condemned the sentence. On May 22, 2014, the
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
(ECHR) found that the authorities in Azerbaijan had violated a number of basic human rights provisions in arresting and sentencing Mammadov. The court ordered Azerbaijan to pay compensation to Mammadov. On December 5, 2017, the
Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (French language, French: ''Comité des ministres du Conseil de l'Europe'') or Committee of Ministers (French language, French: ''Comité des ministres'') is the Council of Europe's decision- ...
, for the first time in its history, initiated infringement proceedings against the Republic of Azerbaijan for failing to comply with the ECHR judgment. On April 1, 2019, the ECHR unanimously held that there had been a violation of Article 46 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as the Republic of Azerbaijan had failed to fulfil its obligation to comply with the judgment.


References


External links

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Ilgar Mammadov's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mammadov, Ilgar 1970 births Politicians from Baku Living people Prisoners and detainees of Azerbaijan Azerbaijani prisoners and detainees Moscow State University alumni Central European University alumni Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights European Court of Human Rights cases involving Azerbaijan