Emin Guseinov tells about pressure on his brother Mekhman in SIZO

The blogger Mekhman Guseinov, who is holding his hunger strike in SIZO (pre-trial prison), is under strong pressure, said his brother Emin Guseinov. According to Emin, Azerbaijani authorities distort information about his brother's health and try to hide the fact of his hunger strike.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 26, 2018, Mekhman Guseinov announced a dry hunger strike in the colony, where he was serving his term, in protest against the new criminal case opened against him. During the hunger strike, Mekhman had severely undermined his health, and began taking liquid dairy products, because of severe stomach pains, but still refuses any other food, his brother and the advocate have stated.

The "Trend" News Agency wrote on January 12 that on the previous day, January 11, 2019, after the appeal of the representative office of the European Union (EU) in Azerbaijan, a meeting was organized of the responsible diplomats of the Embassies of the EU countries with Mekhman Guseinov at the SIZO.

According to the "Trend", the diplomats "witnessed that Mekhman Guseinov's health was normal; he had no complaints about his custody conditions and could freely meet his advocate and father."

In the opinion of Emin Guseinov, Azerbaijani authorities have used the EU mission's and diplomats' visit for their own purposes.

"By letting various officials to Mekhman, authorities are trying to form an opinion that Mekhman is all right, relax the tensions in the society and disorient the international community ... In general, the authorities are trying to hide the Mekhman's hunger strike in every possible way," he said.

“My conviction is that Mekhman's meetings with diplomats and other officials were not confidential; and my brother couldn't tell the whole truth. Mekhman had previously been told not to 'talk too much', since 'advocates and international officials would leave the place, but he would stay there."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 13, 2019 at 05:32 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.