Wife of journalist Polad Aslanov demands to stop pressing him in colony

The wife of the convicted journalist, Polad Aslanov, has held a protest action near the building of the Penitentiary Service in Baku, calling to stop pressing her husband. The beating of Aslanov, which caused her wife's action, could be sanctioned by colony bosses, Fikret Djafarli, a human rights defender, has suggested.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 6, 2022, Polad Aslanov went on a hunger strike, demanding a reconsideration of his case. He also complained about the physical and psychological pressure exerted on him in the colony. On the 18th day of his hunger strike, Aslanov's health condition deteriorated sharply. On the 20th day thereof, he stopped his hunger strike at doctors' insistence. On February 24, the Azerbaijan Supreme Court (SC) partially granted the journalist's complaint, reducing his prison term from 16 to 13 years.

"On April 1, I had a meeting with Polad. His face was swollen; and there were nail traces on his face and throat," Gyulmira Aslanova, Polad's wife, has informed. According to her story, the journalist said that he had been beaten up by his cellmate.

"This prisoner reacts harshly to any Polad's action; he demands from him that he 'doesn't talk' and 'doesn't laugh'," Ms Aslanova has added.

According to her version, provocations are deliberately committed against her husband in the colony; and the administration is interested to "get rid" of Polad.

Gyulmira Aslanova demands from the Penitentiary Service to transfer Polad's cellmate to another colony.

A deliberate provocation was committed against the journalist, said Fikret Djafarli, the head of the Centre for Studying Facts of Torture.