Baku court denies Salekh Rustamov's early release

The Nizami District Court has refused to release Salekh Rustamov from prison on health grounds. However, the session was held without the participation of an advocate, Salekh's brother has informed.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 6, 2021, Salekh Rustamov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), went on a hunger strike in protest against the fact that he had not fallen under the amnesty announced by the President of Azerbaijan. On the 38th day of his hunger strike, Rustamov refused to drink water. On December 14, his health condition deteriorated sharply. On December 15, on the 40th day of his hunger strike, Rustamov agreed to receive supportive treatment, and on December 16, he stopped his hunger strike.

On March 3, the Nizami District Court of Baku considered the petition for the release of Salekh Rustamov. However, his relatives did not know about the court session, Talekh Rustamov, Salekh's brother, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"In the morning on March 3, they called the advocate from the court. He said that he was in the city of Ganja and would not be able to participate in the session and asked to reschedule it. The assistant judge assured him that the session would be postponed until March 10. But yesterday (on March 4), my brother called and said that the day before, the court had considered the case and dismissed the motion, based on the fact that the medical examination had found that Salekh's health allowed him to continue serving his prison term, despite the fact that Salekh is still in the prison hospital and hasn't recovered from his 41-day-long hunger strike. It turns out that my brother has been deceived," Talekh Rustamov has explained.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 5, 2022 at 08:20 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.