Spouse of convicted oppositionist holds a protest rally in Baku

At a protest action in Baku, Aigyun Gumbatova, a spouse of convicted activist, complained that after her husband, oppositionist Agil Gumbatov, was sent to a penal colony, the family faced difficulties, and the Azerbaijan’s authorities obstructed the registration of documents for child benefits. Three activist’s three children took part in the protest action.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on August 11, 2021, Agil Gumbatov was detained in a case on stabbing a resident of the Zira village near Baku. On August 16, an advocate filed a complaint to the prosecutor’s office stating that the oppositionist had signed a confession after the beatings. Later, Agil Gumbatov himself retracted his initial testimony and said that he had given it under torture. On November 15, 2021, Agil Gumbatov was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

On February 2, Aigyun Gumbatova, a spouse of Agil Gumbatov, held a protest action in Baku at the entrance to the building of the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population of Azerbaijan. Three of her children, one of whom suffers from a congenital disease of the nervous system, also took part in the protest action. Aigyun Gumbatova demanded to consider her complaint about bribery and bureaucracy in the Ministry of Social Protection of Azerbaijan. During her protest action, Aigyun Gumbatova was shouting out demands for the immediate issuance of a monthly allowance to her sick son, the punishment of bureaucrats in the medical commission, and the release of her husband, the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent reported.

According to Aigyun Gumbatova, after her husband had been taken into custody last year, the family members found themselves in a difficult situation. The activist’s wife said that she needed to collect all the documents to obtain the sickness benefit for her sick child, and to do that, she needed to subject the child to a medical examination, medical tests, and so on. However, according to Aigyun Gumbatova, she cannot leave her two children at home alone in order to take the third child with her and go around the medical authorities with him.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on February 3, 2022 at 06:58 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.