On 9 September, the Azerbaijani government paid the chairman of the opposition party ReAl (Republican Alternative) Ilgar Mammadov compensation for moral damage. Mammadov received 234,000 manats (about 138,000 USD), reported eurasiadaily.

A week earlier, the Azerbiajni Ministry of Justice officially registered Mammadov’s ReAl party, alongside with the Azerbaijani Popular Front party (APFP). The US embassy in Azerbaijan  welcomed the decision. 

Mammadov announced his intention to run for President of Azerbaijan in 2013. In February 2013 he was arrested and charged with a series of crimes, including causing mass disorder. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. In May 2014 the Court ruled that Mammadov had been persecuted in order to silence or punish him for his criticism of the government. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers called for Mammadov’s immediate and unconditional release. Nevertheless, Mammadov remained in detention.

In December 2017 the Committee of Ministers made the unprecedented step of referring a question to the European Court of Human Rights under the infringement proceedings of Article 46 § 1 of the Convention, regarding Azerbaijan’s failure to release and acquit Mammadov. Mammadov was freed in August 2018, but due to the fact that his criminal conviction remained, he was barred from standing in elections.

In May 2019 the European Court issued its judgment in the infringement proceedings. It stated clearly that Azerbaijan had failed to comply with the 2014 judgment. It stated that Mammadov’s criminal conviction and all of its consequences must be erased.