Hunger strike of Azerbaijani journalist Aslanov in prison attracts attention of ICRC

Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov, who has been on a hunger strike in penal colony for the fifth day, refused the offer of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to help with the transfer to another penitentiary institution. The pressure on Polad Aslanov is being ordered by the authorities, so the change of the penal colony will not change anything, a prisoner’s wife explains.

The “Caucasian Knot” has also reported that in April, the wife of Polad Aslanov, the sentenced editor-in-chief of the “Xeberman.com” and the “Press-az.com”, complained to the Ombudsman, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service that he was being held in the same cell with 17 prisoners and was under pressure. On July 12, the journalist went on a hunger strike in protest. On July 13, Polad Aslanov’s wife sent a complaint to more than 20 embassies in Baku.

According to the spouse of Polad Aslanov, other prisoners are persuaded against her husband. “They turn off the water, take away fans, and then give a ‘leak’ that was because of Polad. In fact, he only demands to ensure the rights guaranteed by law, to eliminate extortions of money,” the journalist’s wife emphasized.

Polad Aslanov has been on hunger strike for the fifth day, but he has not yet been put under medical supervision, Gulmira Aslanova complains.

Elshan Gasanov, the head of the Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners, noted that in general, the authorities react to a prisoner’s hunger strike only two or three weeks after the start of the protest action, when hunger-strikers person has serious health problems.