Safarov's father states threat to his son's health and life

Rufat Safarov, a former investigator, convicted on charges of bribe-taking, told his father that a recidivist was placed into his cell at the Baku SIZO (pre-trial prison), who tries to provoke a conflict with him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 8, 2016, Rufat Safarov, a former investigator of the Zerdab District Prosecutor's Office, was sentenced to 9 years in prison on charges of a repeated bribe-taking. Safarov himself refused to admit his guilt, stating the political nature of his case. On December 22, 2016, the Shirvan Court of Appeal upheld the verdict.

Today, Rufat's father Eldar Sabiroglu, a former Azerbaijani MP and one of the founders of the ruling party "Yeni Azerbaijan", has expressed his concern about his son's cellmate-recidivist at the SIZO-1 of Baku.

According to the father, Rufat's cellmate behaves aggressively. "I've turned to the Public Relations Department of the Penitentiary Service in connection with a possible provocation against my son, but I was assured that there was no reason for concern. Today, Rufat has again called from the SIZO and said that he still feels a threat," said Sabiroglu.

He fears that a physical attack with a threat to health and life may be committed against his son.

"Or, they want to create an incident in the cell in order to open another criminal case against my son and increase the prison term," Mr Sabiroglu has suggested.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.