Azerbaijan’s Appeals Court Upholds a Ruling to Fine British Airlines $3,000

Baku Today
21/07/2004

Azerbaijan’s Appeals Court has upheld a court ruling to fine the
British Airways $3,000 in order to compensate the material and moral
damage the company has allegedly inflicted to an Azeri citizen, ANS
reported on Wednesday.

According to the court ruling, the Azeri citizen, Vusal Kazimli, was
denied entry to a British Airways plane last year although he had
booked a ticket two months earlier. The court said that Kazimli’s seat
in the plane hadbeen sold for a foreign citizen.

Aslan Ismailov, the plaintiff’s lawyer, said the main problem is that
foreigners view Azeris as second-class citizens.

`We, as the citizens of Azerbaijan, are always respectful to
foreigners. But the foreigners are behaving as landlords in our
country,’ Ismailov complained in an interview with ANS.

The lawyer Ismailov added that the court ruling is to be a message to
some foreign companies operating in Azerbaijan.