Published on 25 September 2023

FIRST SECTION

Application no. 83230/17 Elnur MAHARRAMLI against Azerbaijan lodged on 4 December 2017 communicated on 5 September 2023

SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE

The application concerns criminal proceedings against the applicant, a journalist and editor-in-chief of an online news portal, instituted under the procedure of private prosecution by N.S., the Head of the State Traffic Police Department, resulting in his criminal conviction for an allegedly defamatory article he published in August 2015. In the article, the applicant made statements about alleged unlawful and criminal activities of N.S., such as bribery and corruption.

By a judgment of 14 January 2016, the Khatai District Court convicted the applicant under Articles 147.2 (slander by accusation of having committed a serious or especially serious criminal offence) and 148 (insult) of the Criminal Code and sentenced him to one year and six months’ corrective work with deduction of 15% of his monthly income in favour of the State. The domestic courts held that the applicant had slandered N.S. by accusing him of having committed criminal offences without providing evidence and insulted him using defamatory and insulting language in the article. After a series of appeals, the conviction and sentence were upheld by the Supreme Court’s final decision of 3 May 2017 (notified to him on 4 June 2017).

The applicant complains under Article 10 of the Convention that the domestic courts’ judgments violated his right to freedom of expression as a journalist.

QUESTIONS TO THE PARTIES

Has there been an interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression, within the meaning of Article 10 § 1 of the Convention? If so, was the interference prescribed by law and necessary in terms of Article 10 § 2 in pursuit of a legitimate aim? Were the sanctions imposed on the applicant proportionate to the aims pursued ( see Mahmudov and Agazade , no. 35877/04, § 51, 18 December 2008, and Grebneva and Alisimchik v. Russia , no. 8918/05, § 65, 22 November 2016)?

The parties are requested to submit a translation into English or French of the impugned article published by the applicant which led to his criminal conviction.