Afghan Mukhtarly's defence states violation of his rights in colony

The journalist Afghan Mukhtarly, who is in an Azerbaijani colony, has no chance to receive political literature and meet his family confidant, Samir Asadli, the coordinator of the "Nida" Movement, has stated. The defence prepares a complaint about the violation of Mukhtarly's rights to the court.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in May 2017, Afghan Mukhtarly was kidnapped in Tbilisi and brought to Baku. On January 12, the court sentenced him to six years in prison on charges of illegally crossing the border, smuggling and resisting an authority official.

Mukhtarly refuses to plead guilty. The USA, the European Union (EU) and the OSCE spoke out in his defence. The Amnesty International (AI) recognized the journalist as a "prisoner of conscience", and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) awarded the priority status to his case. Mukhtarly is on the list of Azerbaijani list of political prisoners.

Samir Asadli, who was authorized by Afghan's family to visit him in colony, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that so far he has not get a chance to visit Mukhtarly in the colony.

"Every week, I bring food and other necessary things to Afghan; they take everything, but don't allow me to see him," Mr Asadli asserts.

Besides, according to his story, during the whole time of Mukhtarly's arrest, he was not allowed to receive political literature.

Mr Asadli has added that on August 17, Zibeida Sadygova, an advocate, met Mukhtarly in the colony. "At this meeting, Afghan and his advocate decided to appeal to the court against violations of journalist's rights to receive books and meet his family confidant," said Samir Asadli.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 18, 2018 at 10:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.