Ueldanov's sister reports his complaints about beating in Azerbaijani jail

Marat Ueldanov has told his relatives that he was beaten up in the Azerbaijani prison, his sister has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 16, 2019, Sergey Lavrov, the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), said at a press conference that negotiations were underway with Azerbaijan on the return of the Russian citizen, Marat Ueldanov, to his homeland. And on May 4, his sister, Mariana Mirzoyan, announced that her brother had been brought from the Baku prison to Russia.

Marat Ueldanov was detained in Baku on June 9, 2016. In April 2017, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison on charges of illegally acquiring, producing, storing and distributing drugs at a large scale. His relatives would not admit the accusation, stating that Marat was convicted because of his Armenian origin.

Mariana Mirzoyan, Marat's sister, treats his brother's extradition to Russia as a victory. "Definitely, it's our victory. My brother is already in Dagestan, but the lawyers and I have not seen him yet. I look forward to meeting him."

The sister said that they had applied force to her brother at the Baku prison. "He was beaten up before and after sentencing. My brother told about the beatings when he was allowed to call me. Marat said that he was beaten because of his Armenian origin, he said: 'I belong to the nationality that should not be kept in an Azerbaijani prison'."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 7, 2019 at 11:23 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.