Advocate: Leyla Yunus exposed to psychological pressure in Azerbaijani SIZO

As state by the lawyer Alaif Gasanov, the rights defender Leyla Yunus is exposed moral and psychological pressure at the SIZO (pre-trial prison) in Azerbaijan. The Geneva-based Observatory for Protection of Rights Defenders has also reported, in its statement, Leyla's health worsening.

On August 19, Gasanov visited Leyla Yunus at the Kyuradkhan SIZO, where she is kept. According to his story, Leyla, who suffers from diabetes, is not provided with the dietary food she needs and eats almost nothing. All the records intended for lawyers, made by Leyla Yunus and another rights defender, Intigam Aliev, who is also kept there, are checked by the SIZO administration, which is a violation of the right to confidentiality, said Gasanov.

In their turn, officials from the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijan deny any violations of Leyla Yunus' rights.

Leyla Yunus herself has spread, through her lawyers and media, her open letter to her husband Arif Yunus, who is kept at the SIZO of the Ministry of National Security (MNS). In her letter, she compares the prosecution of human rights activists with "repression of the Soviet time."