Penitentiary Service reacts to Polad Aslanov's complaints

Polad Aslanov, a journalist, has reported his complaints about the physical and psychological pressure in the colony to an employee of the Internal Investigation Department of the Penitentiary Service under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Azerbaijan, who visited him in custody, Polad's wife said.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on January 17, Gyulmira Aslanova, a spouse of Polad Aslanov, went to a picket in front of the building of the General Prosecutor’s Office of Azerbaijan. The picketer demanded a meeting with the General Prosecutor, but the police pushed her away from the entrance to the building and later detained her. However, an hour later, Gyulmira Aslanova was released. On January 18, the spouse of Polad Aslanov was invited to the General Prosecutor’s Office, where she was received personally by General Prosecutor Kyamran Aliev, who took the case under his personal control.

On January 19, an official from the Internal Investigation Department of the Penitentiary Service under the MoJ visited Polad Aslanov to check his complaints about physical and psychological pressure from the colony staff against him, Gyulmira Aslanova, Polad's wife, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that Polad told her about this on January 20 by phone.

"The colony staff set other prisoners on Polad. Therefore, I turned with my complaint to the Ombudsperson's Office. Some time later, Polad was nevertheless transferred to the medical unit. The Ombudsperson's Office sent a letter to the bosses of the Penitentiary Service. Because of the letter, yesterday (January 19) Polad was visited by an official from the Internal Investigation Department of the Penitentiary Service. As a result of his long hunger strike, Polad is very weak, but he was still able to testify," Gyulmira Aslanova has explained, stating that her husband intends to continue his hunger strike until his case is considered by the Supreme Court.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 21, 2022 at 02:45 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.