Elchin Mamed's health worsens in penal colony, his mother reports

Azerbaijani journalist and human rights defender Elchin Mamed suffers from pain in his legs and has difficulties with walking. He needs a medical examination, the mother of the prisoner reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in late March, human rights defenders appealed to the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Azerbaijan with a request to transfer Elchin Mamed to a medical institution of the MoJ’s Penitentiary Service in connection with his health problems.

On March 31, Elchin Mamed called his mother by phone from the penal colony No. 1, where he was serving his sentence. “Elchin had a very tired voice. He confessed to me that he had severe pains in the hip, legs, and heels, and he hardly got to the telephone conversation room,” Rakhilya Mamedova told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

The woman voiced her intention to visit her son in the coming days and bring him medications for hepatitis C and vitamins. “Elchin was not prescribed any other medicines, because he should first undergo a medical examination. There are no conditions for such an examination in the penal colony. Elchin can only be examined and treated in the prison hospital,” the prisoner's mother emphasized.

The MoJ did not respond in essence to the request to transfer Mamed to the prison hospital, but offered to send a formal request instead, Novella Djafaroglu, a member of the monitoring group of the country's human rights organizations, told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 1, 2021 at 06:24 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.