In Azerbaijan, Committee to protect Hilal Mamedov's rights claims threat to his health in penal colony

In an Azerbaijani penal colony, health of Hilal Mamedov, the editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Tolyshi Sado" (Voice of Talysh), who was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment, runs a real risk. This was stated by the Committee to protect Hilal Mamedov's rights. Officials from the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan do not comment on the statement.

Arzu Abdullaeva, the head of the Committee to protect Hilal Mamedov's rights, co-Chairman of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly and the head of its National Committee told the "Caucasian Knot" that two prisoners with venereal diseases were placed in one barrack with Hilal Mamedov, which in any case contained 130 people all together.

According to Arzu Abdullaeva, in that situation, Hilal Mamedov "is to be released "not only in terms of the restoration of his rights, but also for humanitarian reasons."

Hilal Mamedov is the author of the video record "Who are you? Come on, goodbye!", which became very popular on the Internet. The video record shows Talysh people and Baku residents reading comic and satirical poems at a wedding. The video record has attracted wide public attention to the problem of the rights of the Talysh people. Russian and Azerbaijani human rights defenders believe that the case against Hilal Mamedov was fabricated in connection with his public activities. The human rights defenders have repeatedly demanded to release Hilal Mamedov immediately.