Salekh Rustamov’s health state deteriorates sharply after start of a dry hunger strike

Salekh Rustamov has been on the hunger strike for 39 days, and on the second day of his dry hunger strike, he felt chills, his blood pressure and blood sugar dropped, his advocate and relatives reported. The Azerbaijani authorities did not react to the appeals for pardoning Salekh Rustamov, human rights defender Rufat Safarov said.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on November 6, Salekh Rustamov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), went on hunger strike in protest against the fact that he was not affected by the amnesty. On December 12, doctor Adil Geibulla said that Salekh Rustamov could die at any time. As a sign of solidarity with Salekh Rustamov, his relatives and several activists refused to accept food. Later, relatives stopped their hunger strike at a request of the activists, with the exception of his brother Talekh Rustamov, who continued his hunger strike.

“We talked to him for only a few minutes, because he was very weak ... All night long he was in a fever,” advocate Bakhruz Bairamov said.

According to the advocate, the doctors said they had to start force-feeding.

“I recalled the statement of Salekh Rustamov that in case of pressure he would resist and, if there was no other way out, he would commit suicide,” the advocate noted.

Rufat Safarov, the executive director of the “Line of Defence” NGO, said that almost a month had passed since the organization called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Salekh Rustamov, at least for humanitarian reasons and his merits in protecting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.