Azerbaijani political prisoner's wife reports his health worsening due to hunger strike

After ten days of hunger strike, Emin Sagiev, an Azerbaijani political prisoner, has health problems; however, he intends to continue his action until his demand for release is fulfilled, his wife said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Emin Sagiev (Shagiev), a relative of the journalist, Tyurkel Azertyurk, was arrested in November 2017; and in October 2018, he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of drug dealing. Azertyurk believes that his relative is persecuted for Tyurkel's journalistic activities in an opposition medium abroad. After the refusal of the Azerbaijani Supreme Court (SC) to satisfy the appeal against the verdict, on August 18, Sagiev went on a hunger strike, insisting on his innocence.

"Emin had problems with his kidneys and heart, but he said that he would continue his action until the end … Emin was arrested on a trumped-up charge, he has nothing to do with narcotic drugs," said his wife, Aigun Sagieva.

In her opinion, her husband is persecuted because of the oppositional journalistic activities of the Tyurkel Azertyurk, who is her sister's husband. "But is Emin responsible for the activities of other people? It is unfair to persecute an innocent person," Ms Sagieva has stated.

Bakhruz Bairamov, an advocate, has noted that the defence will be able to apply for the conditional early relief (CER) no earlier than 2022. However, another way of release could be a presidential pardon. Such orders are usually timed to holidays and are issued in late December.