Polad Gasanov's wife expressed concern for his life
Jailed journalist Polad Aslanov has been on hunger strike for six days, his wife said.
As "Kavkazsky Uzel" wrote, Polad Aslanov, editor-in-chief of the online publications Xeberman.com and Press-az.com, convicted of treason, went on a hunger strike in the colony to protest the tightening of conditions. The reason for the hunger strike was a personal ban on using the kitchen and refrigerator of the medical unit.
On November 16, 2020, the court sentenced Polad Aslanov to 16 years in prison, finding him guilty of treason. The journalist's appeal was not satisfied, and the cassation court reduced the journalist's sentence by three years, to 13 years in prison. The convicted man's wife believes that her husband is being persecuted for covering human rights violations and the cases of political prisoners. International journalist organizations have called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Polad Aslanov.
Polad Aslanov continues his hunger strike, demanding that he be provided with the results of the ultrasound he underwent on July 18. This was reported today on her Facebook page* by Gulmira Aslanova, the journalist's wife.
Aslanova added that she also filed a complaint with the Main Medical Department of the Ministry of Justice. She complains that not only was she not given the results of her husband's ultrasound, but she was not allowed into the medical center at all.
"My husband spent only 38 days in the medical center after being transferred to UIS-15 in November last year, and was then transferred to the zone. Despite this, he was allowed to use the kitchen of the medical center for half an hour a day. Now he is not even allowed there," she noted.
Aslanova believes that the concealment of the ultrasound results is deliberate: "They are playing with Polad Aslanov's health. By delaying the response, they are waiting for his liver problem to worsen."
She also reported that they contacted the Human Rights Commissioner, who, in turn, sent a complaint to the Main Medical Department of the Ministry of Justice. The response letter indicated that in 2020, Aslanov was recognized as "practically healthy."