21:45, 9 November 2016

Advocate states worsening of Faig Amirov's health

Faig Amirov, the Chief Financial Officer of the newspaper "Azadlyg", arrested in Azerbaijan, has lost 20 kilos of body weight and needs serious treatment, said his advocate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Faig Amirov was arrested on August 20 on charges of inciting religious hatred and infringement on citizens' rights under the pretext of performing religious rites. According to investigators, books were found on him, related to the Turkish preacher Fethullah Gülen, whom Ankara suspects of organizing the recent military coup.

"Amirov has a stomach disease; he needs a diet, which is impossible in the conditions of the SIZO (pre-trial prison). After his arrest, his chronic disease has aggravated," said his advocate Agil Laidzhev.

He added that he had asked SIZO bosses to transfer Amirov to the prison's medical unit, but has not received an answer yet. The defence also intends to petition to investigators on Amirov's release from custody.

Let us note here that Amirov was put by the working group of civil society of Azerbaijan on the list of 94 political prisoners.

The International Organization to Protect Journalists "Reporters without Borders" has urged the authorities to remove "ridiculous charges" from Amirov.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Faik Medzhid

Source: CK correspondent