Citizens of Turkey and Japan complain about illegal actions of Azerbaijani customs
The European Court will announce its decision on the claims of citizens of Turkey and Japan against Azerbaijan. These persons accuse the Azerbaijani state of violating their property rights. They were forced to sign a document in the Azerbaijani language at the airport, after which the foreigners lost large sums of money.
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On November 18, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) will announce its ruling on the Par and Hyodo v. Azerbaijan case. Citizens of Turkey and Japan filed a lawsuit against the Azerbaijani state to the ECHR.
In 2010, Turkish citizen Serpil Par and Japanese citizen Katsunori Hyodo in 2011 faced the same problem at the airport in Baku – they were detained at the customs.
According to the case file, customs officers seized 210,000 euros [$ 241,500] from a Turkish citizen, and 248,000 manats [approximately $ 146,000] from a Japanese citizen. The customs officials explained their actions to foreigners by the fact that the seized funds were not declared.
A case was launched against the Turk and the Japanese on charges of smuggling. They were forced to sign a document in Azerbaijani. According to this document, Par and Hyodo agreed to transfer the money seized from them to the state budget of Azerbaijan. Immediately after that, the cases against them were closed.
Par and Hyodo appealed to all instances of local courts in Azerbaijan, but their claims were not satisfied. The judges explained that the plaintiffs voluntarily transferred their funds to the country’s budget, lawyer Khalid Agalyev wrote on his Facebook page.
In addition, on November 18, the ECHR will announce its decision in the Akhmedova v. Azerbaijan case. Plaintiff Sayyara Ahmadova also appealed to the European Court for the restoration of her property rights. In 2007, Akhmedova purchased a house in Baku, but as it turned out, the house was located on the land plot of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. The woman was evicted from the house. The local courts did not satisfy her complaints.
