Journalist Afghan Mukhtarly claims being provoked

The journalist Afghan Mukhtarly, held in jail in Azerbaijan, reports pressure on him in the colony. He said that a provocation was being prepared against him in order to put forward new charges against him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 12, 2018, the court sentenced Mukhtarly to six years in prison on charges of illegally crossing the border, smuggling and resisting a state official.

"On my birthday, I received 200 messages and postcards from friends and colleagues; but they refused to give them to me in the colony ... For more than 10 days, the colony bosses are preparing a provocation against me," Leyla Mustafaeva, Afghan's wife, who is in political emigration in Germany, quoted her husband's words.

At the direction of the colony boss, the staff exerts pressure on Mukhtarly to put him out of temper and initiate a new criminal case.

"In fact, I have problems with nutrition. I have diabetes, and I need diet food ... I ask international organizations, NGOs, and the Ministry of Justice to monitor the colony," Ms Mustafaeva quoted her husband as saying.

Mukhtarly has to leave his personal belongings in a specially designated room. He is even under restriction to receive books, said Samir Asadli, Mukhtarly's public defender.