ECHR awards EUR 30,000 to Artur Badayan, who was tortured in Azerbaijani prison

YEREVAN, July 22. /ARKA/ The European Court of Human Rights issued a verdict in the case Badalyan v. Azerbaijan.

According to the decision published on the official website of the ECHR, a citizen of Armenia Artur Badalyan was tortured and imprisoned in Azerbaijan for two years, after he got lost while picking mushrooms and ended up on the territory of Azerbaijan.

The Court awarded the applicant EUR 30,000 in respect of non-pecuniary damage, plus any tax that may be chargeable.

On 9 May 2009 the applicant went with a group of friends to the village of Navur near the town of Berd, close to the border with Azerbaijan, to pick mushrooms in the forest and crossed into Azerbaijan. Following his arrest by the Azerbaijani forces, the applicant was held captive for 22 months in different military facilities. He was not given enough food and was often not allowed to go to the toilet, thus having to care for his needs in the cell.

Moreover, he was subjected to harsh torture and mental anguish, as he was deemed to be a military prisoner, and was regularly harassed to divulge information. He was often beaten on his legs, so that he could not feel or move them. Electric wires were frequently attached to his fingers and the power switched on, causing severe pains. His cell door was hit with metallic objects, as a result of which he now suffers from a hearing disorder.

Furthermore, he was not informed of the reasons for his detention in a language that he understood, he was never brought before an officer of the law and he was deprived of the possibility to challenge the lawfulness of his detention.

On 18 March 2011, the day after his release, the applicant was hospitalized and examined in Armenia. According to a certificate issued by the military medical department of the Ministry of Defense, he was diagnosed with neurasthenia, a psychopathological condition, with symptoms of depression. -0-