Penitentiary Service reacts sceptically to statement about pressure on Kerimli

The statement about pressure on the advocate, Nemat Kerimli, in the colony, where his client journalist, Afghan Mukhtarly, is kept, caused doubts, the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service has reported. The Kerimli's arguments were not confirmed preliminarily, the Bar Association has stated. The advocate himself treats the reaction to his appeal as biased.

According to the "Caucasian Knot", the advocate, Nemat Kerimli complained of violence and pressure during his visit to journalist Afghan Mukhtarly, who is kept in an Azerbaijani prison. On September 22, the convicted journalist went on a hunger strike, demanding an objective investigation into his advocate's complaints.

Mekhman Sadygov, the head of the public relations department of the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service, has questioned the reliability of information about the pressure on the advocate, Nemat Kerimli.

"If the advocate claims that this had happened, let him contact the Penitentiary Service and the case will be investigated," Mr Sadygov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to Anara Bagirova, the head of the Bar Association, in connection with Nemat Kerimli's statements, "a preliminary investigation was carried out, and the facts presented by him have not yet been confirmed."

Nemat Kerimli himself believes that the comments of the Penitentiary Service and the Bar Association in the media are directed against him and are biased. "The Bar Chair has already shown her partiality with hasty assessments. What preliminary investigation could she conduct, if she hasn't met and talked to me? Why does she know that the facts haven't confirmed?" asked the advocate.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 24, 2019 at 07:10 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.