On July 23, 2023, employees of the Main Department of Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (hereinafter MDCOC) searched the office of the chairman of the Azerbaijan Democracy and Prosperity (ADP) Party, professor of economics, Gubad Ibadoglu. G. Ibadoglu was detained as a suspect under Article 204.1 of the Criminal Code based on the 40,000 dollars in cash, which was allegedly found in his office as a result of the search and was allegedly not known whether it was fake or real. That article provides for making, acquiring, or selling counterfeit money or securities and is punishable by imprisonment in the term of five to seven years.

On July 24, Gubad Ibadoglu was charged with that article of the Criminal Code, and by the decision of the Narimanov District Court, he was sentenced to be remand in custody in the term of 3 months and 26 days during the investigation period.

According to numerous international conventions to which Azerbaijan is a party, human rights are rights that belong to a person from the moment of birth, and those rights should not be interfered with by the state, except in the most extreme circumstances. Even in those special (extreme) cases, the state can restrict human rights only within the narrow scope of the law or determine not to provide those rights. For example, this manifests itself in the form of restriction of the right to life during the war, in the form of restriction of the right to liberty during detention, arrest, and deprivation of liberty, and in the form of restriction of the right to private life within the framework of criminal investigation activities.

While G. Ibadoglu was arrested and detained in prison, apart from his right to liberty, which should be restricted only by law (the legality and validity of Gubad Ibadoglu's accusation is not the subject of this article), a number of other basic human rights were illegally restricted and violated.

Tribunat analyzed those cases.

On July 23, 2023, the office belonging to Gubad Ibadoglu was searched and seized. This is one of the investigative actions established by legislation to obtain evidence during the investigation of a criminal case. However, according to Articles 17 and 243 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter CCrP), the investigative body investigating the criminal case (in this case, the MDCOC) must carry out the investigative action of search or seizure in a service office or building, considered to be a place of residence, by force (against the will of the owner) only on the basis of a court decision.

Only in some urgent cases, on the basis of the reasoned decision of the investigator, it is allowed to conduct search and investigative action by force without a court order. These cases include the following:

• concealment of objects or documents in the place of residence that testify to the commission of a crime against the person or the state authority or the preparation for the commission of that crime;
• hiding of the person in the place of residence who prepared or committed the crime against the person or the state authority, escaped from places of deprivation of liberty or imprisonment, or from protection;
• the presence of a human corpse (corpse parts) in the place of residence;
• the presence of a real danger to the life or health of a person in the place of residence.

Despite the absence of any of the urgent circumstances mentioned in connection with Gubad Ibadoğlu, the MDCOC, which conducted the search and seizure, entered the service office, which is considered a residence, against the owner's will (without his knowledge) and conducted a search and seizure in that place, without obtaining a court order. As a result of this, the right to inviolability of the home and the right to property, which should be protected by the state by law, of Gubad Ibadoglu, who was under the status of a suspect at that time, was violated by the investigative body of the state itself.

Pursuant to Article 46.3 of the Constitution and Article 3 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, persons detained and arrested in the course of criminal prosecution have the right not to be subjected to ill-treatment. Limitation and violation of this right is not allowed under any circumstances. Even the most special circumstances cannot be a reason for the suspected and accused person to be subjected to degrading treatment and physical violence by the state. While Gubad Ibadoglu was detained, physical violence was committed against him and his wife, and he was taken out of his office with a black bag over his head.

According to Article 19 of the Law on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Persons Detained in Prisons, during the period of detention, arrested or detained persons have the right to talk with their close relatives and family members twice a week for up to 15 minutes by phone and to meet four times a month for up to four hours.

The arrested person's right to telephone and meeting can be restricted only to prevent possible crime and to ensure the safety of persons in criminal prosecution. However, despite the absence of these exceptional cases, although Q. Ibadoglu was detained on July 23, the right to phone calls and meetings with family members was restricted according to the investigator's decision.

The appeal submitted by Gubad Ibadoglu's defender to remove this restriction was considered groundless and rejected by the Narimanov District Court. The appeal to the Baku Court of Appeal against this refusal was upheld, and the case was sent back to the Narimanov District Court for proceeding and consideration. According to the new decision issued by the Narimanov District Court, Ibadoglu's right to telephone conversation was restored from July 30, and his right to meet from August 15.

According to the information given by his relatives and his defender, Q. Ibadoglu suffers from high-level diabetes, high blood pressure, and aortic aneurysm. According to the Law on Ensuring the Rights and Freedoms of Persons Detained in Prisons, arrested and imprisoned persons have the right to medical and sanitary facilities, the right to food provision, and the right to go for a walk in the open air for not less than two hours a day. However, his advocate stated that although Gubad Ibadoglu regularly took various medicines, ate special diet foods, and went for outdoor walks at certain times of the day due to his health problems before detention, the fact that similar conditions did not exist in the place of detention worsened his health.

According to Article 25 of the aforementioned Law, the arrested person has the right to receive and send gifts, parcels, and money once a week. The inspection of sent gifts and parcels, as well as the list of those prohibited from being accepted, are regulated by the internal disciplinary rules of the relevant detention centers. However, some tools and food, which were sent to Gubad Ibadoglu and necessary for his health and cleanliness, were not delivered to him for no reason. It is inconceivable that such things, which are related to the daily necessities of life and are freely delivered to other prisoners, should be restricted by any internal disciplinary rules.

Thus, while Gubad Ibadoglu was detained and during his detention in prison, his rights to inviolability of the home, to property, not to be subjected to torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, to be provided with medical and sanitary services and complex meals, to go for a walk, and to receive gifts (parcels) have been violated.