Activist contests ban on commenting Aliev's posts in social network

Bakhtiyar Gadjiev demanded through the court to declare a violation that his Facebook page was blocked by the official page of Ilham Aliev, which is why the activist is deprived of the right to leave his comments under the posts placed by the President of Azerbaijan.

Gadjiev has stated that he was prohibited from publishing his opinion on President Aliev's profile. The activist filed a lawsuit demanding to treat the ban as a violation of his right to the freedom of expression.

"The President's page is not his personal profile, but a state-supported resource, the content of which is formed at the expense of the state. He shares information about his activities, and allows people to tick "Likes" and discuss these activities. The blocking because of political views is illegal," the "Turan" News Agency has quoted Bakhtiyar Gadjiev as stating.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 4, 2011, Bakhtiyar Gadjiev was arrested by a court decision. According to his advocate, Seadat Seidli, physical pressure was exerted on his client by the court. In May of the same year, he was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of evading military service; on June 4, 2012, he was released under the conditional early relief (CER). Gadjiev denied the accusations and treated it as inappropriate and politically motivated. In April 2021, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) satisfied Gadjiev's complaint and obliged the Azerbaijani authorities to pay him compensation in the amount of 12,850 euros.