Yagublu's relatives claimed his rights were violated during his hunger strike.
Opposition figure Tofig Yagublu, who is on hunger strike in pretrial detention, is not receiving effective medical care and his rights are being violated, his daughter Nigar Hazi stated.
According to the "Caucasian Knot" newspaper, Azerbaijani opposition politician Tofig Yagublu has been placed in solitary confinement. His daughter attributes the punishment to her brother's participation in a protest in Washington, D.C., outside the hotel where the Azerbaijani president was staying. In protest, Yagublu went on a hunger strike. On March 2, his family reported that his health had noticeably worsened. By March 10, Yagublu had lost 10 kilograms (22 pounds) but refused to end his protest. On March 12, he fainted.
Tofig Yagublu is a member of the Coordination Center of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF) and the Musavat Party. On March 10, 2025, the court sentenced him to nine years in prison after finding him guilty of fraud and document forgery. Yagublu denied the charges and stated that his prosecution was politically motivated. On May 20, 2025, the Court of Appeal upheld the sentence. There is no evidence of Yagublu's guilt in the case, the defense stated.
Yagublu is on his 24th day of a hunger strike in Baku's Pretrial Detention Center No. 1, the politician's daughter, Nigar Hazi, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
According to her, on March 18, Yagublu called home from the pretrial detention center, but the conversation was cut off early. "The conversation lasted less than four minutes and was interrupted by those who control communications in the pretrial detention center. "Although, by law, a prisoner has the right to talk on the phone for 15 minutes at a time," Khazi noted.
According to her, lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev met with Yagublu in the pretrial detention center on March 17.
"The lawyer said that my father has become very weak. During his meeting with his lawyer, he felt dizzy several times and almost fell. As a result of his hunger strike, my father's immune system has weakened, and his facial hair has even begun to fall out. In recent days, my father's medical supervision has been reduced; he is not being examined every day. My father has not been transferred to the prison hospital or even the pretrial detention center's medical unit. "There has been no response to our request to allow family doctor Professor Adil Geybulla to see my father," Khazi continued.
She also complained about the "inaction" of the ombudsman's office.
"After the start of the hunger strike, my father was visited only once by the ombudsman's office. Perhaps they considered their work exhausted. There has been no response to my father's hunger strike or his demands," Khazi noted.
She placed responsibility for the possible consequences of the hunger strike on the politician's health and life on the country's authorities.
"Tofig Yagublu's condition is deteriorating with each passing hour; he is literally fading away before our eyes. His life can only be saved by returning his freedom, which is his legal right. If something happens to him, the Azerbaijani government will be held responsible for it," said Hazi.
Lawyer Fakhraddin Mehdiyev confirmed Yagublu's continuation of the hunger strike. He also noted that the defense has no information regarding the date of the Supreme Court's decision in Yagublu's case.
"The announcement of the Supreme Court's decision has already been postponed several times. We, the defense, insist on Yagublu's acquittal," Mehdiyev told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.
Get comments in The penitentiary service and the ombudsman's office failed.