14:42, 12 January 2022

Polad Aslanov's wife demands fair trial of her husband

The wife of Polad Aslanov Gyulmira at a protest action. January 11, 2022. Screenshot of the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWOkpKJ25aY

The wife of Polad Aslanov has held a protest action at the building of the Azeri State Security Service (SSS) and promised to continue such actions daily until his release.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 6, Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of the Xeberman.com and Press-az.com, went on a hunger strike, demanding a review of his case. The prison staff took away his cigarettes and bottled water in order to force him to end his hunger strike, Polad's wife, Gyulmira Aslanova, has stated. On January 10, Polad managed to get a phone call to his wife only after he cut his hand.

On November 16, 2020, the court sentenced Aslanov to 16 years in prison under a high treason case.

At her protest action, Mrs Aslanova raised portraits of the former Azerbaijani Public Prosecutor General and the former SSS head, accusing them of falsifying her husband's criminal case.

"My husband is in jail under a fabricated criminal case. The SSS that conducted the investigation, and the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) that supported the state prosecution, and the courts, which issued a customized sentence, had taken part in this," she has stated.

Polad Aslanov is being prosecuted for his journalistic activities, Mekhman Guseinov, the board chairman of the Institute for Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), is sure.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 11, 2022 at 07:16 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.

Author: Faik Medjid

Source: CK correspondent