The Azerbaijani Court Rejects Million-Manat Compensation Claim from Son of 1937 Repression Victim

The court in the Nasimi District made a decision on an important case. Makhmud Faradzhiev, the son of a person who was a victim of Stalin-era purges had filed a lawsuit. He wanted the Azerbaijani government to pay him 1 million AZN, which's about $588,000 USD for the harm he suffered.

The case is about Jabbar Farajov, who was born in 1876. He was arrested in 1937 because the government said he was against them. After that his wife, Shukufa and their little son, Sadikh were sent away to a place called Zhambyl in Kazakhstan. They had to leave their home in the village of Girag Mushlan. The government took all their things.

Makhmud Faradzhiev, the person who filed the lawsuit was born in Kazakhstan in 1952. He was born while his family was in exile. It was not until 1989 that the government looked at his familys case again and said that they were treated unfairly. This meant that Makhmud and his family were officially recognized as victims of repression.

Now Makhmud Faradzhiev is 74 years old. He filed the lawsuit against the Ministry of Finance which's in charge of the countrys money. He said that the Soviet government did not let him have his rights and freedoms from the time he was born. He wanted the government to pay him back for this and to give his family back their property rights. He also wanted to become a citizen of Azerbaijan so he could live in his familys country.

Makhmud Faradzhievs lawyers used a law from 1996 that says children who were born in exile are also victims of repression and should be helped.

The Ministry of Finance did not agree. They said that even though the law helps people who were treated unfairly it does not mean that the government has to pay them money for what happened in the past. They also said that what they are doing now is not connected to the harm that Makhmud Faradzhiev suffered.

The court agreed with the Ministry of Finance. The judge said that even though the government says that what happened in the past was wrong the law in Azerbaijan does not say that the government has to pay money to everyone who was harmed.

This decision is a problem for the descendants of thousands of Azerbaijanis who were targeted during the Great Purge of 1937. The courts are still trying to figure out how to deal with the difference, between saying that someone was treated unfairly and having to pay them money for it.