Azerbaijani Lawyer Disbarred For ‘Ethics’ Violations After Defending Activists

A lawyer who recently defended four opposition activists in a Baku court has been disbarred by the Azerbaijani Bar Association, stated on September 16 that Elchin Namazov was being punished and banned from practicing law because he had broken “ethics rules for lawyers.

Namazov spoke out against the bar association’s decision, saying “I defended a lot of political activists but didn’t ever expect such a ruling to be made against me.”

Lawyer Khalid Bagired was also recently disbarred by Azerbaijan’s bar association for one year. The ban came shortly after he had also defended the rights of a group of opposition activists.