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European Court calls on Lithuanian government to compensate deportation of Azerbaijani national

17 December 2008 08:14 (UTC +04:00)

The court officials told APA that The applicant, Ibrahim Gulijev, relying in particular on Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights, complained about his expulsion from Lithuania in November 2003. He is prohibited from re-entering Lithuania until 2099. Ibrahim Guliyev, who was born in 1971 and lives in Biedermansdorf (Austria). His wife and two children are Lithuanian citizens and live in Lithuania. His expulsion from Lithuania, had been based solely on a report by the State Security Department, classified as â€œsecretâ€, which alleged that he had been a threat to national security. Likewise, no objective material had been presented to the Strasbourg Court to demonstrate that the domestic authorities had good reason to suspect the applicant of having been such a threat. The applicantâ€™s wife had strong social and cultural ties with Lithuania and that his daughters had been born in that country and lived there all their lives. Accordingly, the European Court of Human Rights held unanimously that there had been a violation of Article 8 of the Convention and awarded Mr Gulijev 5,000 euros (EUR) in respect of non-pecuniary damage and EUR 700 for costs and expenses. Under Article 43 of the European Convention on Human Rights, within three months from the date of a Chamber judgment, any party to the case may, in exceptional cases, request that the case be referred to the 17-member Grand Chamber of the Court. In that event, a panel of five judges considers whether the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or its protocols, or a serious issue of general importance, in which case the Grand Chamber will deliver a final judgment. If no such question or issue arises, the panel will reject the request, at which point the judgment becomes final. Otherwise Chamber judgments become final on the expiry of the three-month period or earlier if the parties declare that they do not intend to make a request to refer.