Polad Aslanov goes on hunger strike in prison
Polad Aslanov, editor-in-chief of the online publications Xeberman.com and Press-az.com, convicted of treason, went on a hunger strike in the penal colony to protest the tightening of conditions of detention.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Polad Aslanov, editor-in-chief of the online publications Xeberman.com and Press-az.com, convicted of treason, went on a hunger strike in the penal colony at the beginning of the protest to protest the conditions of detention and the violation of his rights. The administration partially fulfilled his demands, restoring Aslanov's rights to telephone conversations and visits with relatives, so two days later he ended his hunger strike.
On November 16, 2020, the court sentenced Polad Aslanov to 16 years in prison, finding him guilty of treason. The journalist's appeal was not satisfied, and the cassation court reduced the journalist's term by three years, to 13 years in prison. The convicted man's wife believes that her husband is being persecuted for covering human rights violations and the cases of political prisoners. International journalist organizations have called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Polad Aslanov.
Aslanov, who is being held in the medical unit of Colony No. 15, began a hunger strike on August 29, but this became known only today. The reason for the hunger strike was a personal ban on using the kitchen and refrigerator of the medical unit, introduced on the same day, August 29, Meydan TV reports.
Information about the journalist's hunger strike was disseminated by his wife Gulmira Aslanova. The reason for the ban was Aslanov's complaint to the Ministry of Justice employees who came to the colony to investigate the speculation of one of the prisoners: it is alleged that he bought a drink at a prison kiosk and resold it to other prisoners at twice the price.
Polad Aslanov, according to his wife, approached the Ministry of Justice employees and told them about the improper conditions of detention in the colony, as well as about the facts of corruption. According to him, a healthy prisoner can get a bed in the medical unit if he pays its management 200 manats (about 120 dollars).
“Investigate the sale of toothpaste, toothbrushes, clothing, hygiene products and shoes allocated to prisoners by the state for money. Find out where the clothing and hygiene products allocated to us disappear to, since they do not reach the prisoners,” Aslanov’s wife passed on his statement to the Ministry of Justice employees. The latter, according to her, “left without giving any explanation,” and the head doctor of the medical unit told Aslanov that he was henceforth prohibited from using the kitchen and refrigerator.
On her Facebook page*, Gulmira Aslanova also reported that the head of the colony did not register her husband’s official statement about the beginning of a hunger strike. According to his wife, doctors discovered liver problems on July 18 based on the results of an examination, but the journalist was never given these results, and without them it is impossible to begin treatment.
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