26/10/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Wednesday 25 October, the Council of Europe’s committee of ministers began court action against Azerbaijan for failing to respect a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on the 'Ilgar Mammadov' case. Stating that the arrest and prolonged detention of this opposition politician violated a number of articles of the European Convention of Human Rights, the court demanded his unconditional release in 2014. No intervention was made so the committee of ministers decided to send the case to the ECHR in order to determine whether non-implementation of the ruling is a further violation of the convention. The procedure was formalised in 2010 but has never before been used against a country. The referral takes effect at the beginning of December, and Azerbaijan has until 29 November to submit its opinion. (VL)