Afghan Mukhtarly stops hunger strike

On September 24, Azerbaijani journalist, Afghan Mukhtarly, stopped the hunger strike in jail, held in protest against pressure on his advocate Nemat Kerimli. The reason for terminating it was a sharp deterioration of his health and appeals from civil society figures.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Nemat Kerimli complained about the use of violence to him during his visit to Mukhtarly. On September 22, Afghan Mukhtarly went on a hunger strike, demanding an objective inquiry into his advocate's complaints.

Afghan Mukhtarly has stopped his hunger strike in Colony No. 16 late in the evening on September 24, Samir Asadli, a journalist's public defender and the coordinator of the "Nida" movement, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Afghan suffers from diabetes; for three days he refused to take food and medicines, which led to serious health problems. Diabetics are not allowed to hunger-strike; on the contrary, they are prescribed frequent consumption of dietary food. I asked his advocate to persuade Afghan to stop the hunger strike; otherwise he would face a coma. Our colleagues, civil society activists and oppositional figures sent him similar appeals. On September 24, Afghan felt very bad and stopped his hunger strike. We believe that his protest has achieved its goal, to a certain extent, and attracted attention to the Mukhtarly's case," Mr Asadli has stated.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 25, 2019 at 03:20 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.