Does the government take revenge on Tofig Yagublu?

Baku/09.01.23/Turan: The hunger strike, launched on January 5 by a member of the National Council and the “Musavat” party, Tofig Yagublu, is expanding. Two more people joined the action. On January 7, Tofig Yagublu's wife Maya Yagublu announced that she had begun a hunger strike.

On January 8, Maya Yagublu told “Voice of America” that to support Tofig Yagublu, an employee of the organizational department of the Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (PFP) Seymur Ahmadsoy and PFPA activist Elnur Guliyev came to their home yesterday and joined the hunger strike.

“Many have applied for participation in the hunger strike. They announced that they would go on a hunger strike at the headquarters of the “Musavat” party. Activists from the regions of the country also said they would join the hunger strike,” Maya Yagublu told Turan.

Tofig Yagublu, a member of the National Council and the “Musavat” Party, said that he has been on hunger strike since January 5. On December 23, Tofig Yagublu was detained in the center of Baku during a protest action demanding the release of public activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev. On the same day, the Sabail District Court, presided over by Judge Medina Bagirova, charged Tofig Yagublu with violating the Article 535.1 (disobeying the law), found him guilty under Articles of hooliganism), and sentenced him to 30 days of administrative arrest.

Seymour Hazi, a member of Tofig Yagublu's family, deputy chairperson of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan, comments on what is happening in the “Difficult Question" program.

According to him, Tofig Yagublu is an experienced politician and understands that after 30 days of administrative arrest he will be free and that the difficulties of imprisonment could be endured.

“However, he understands that as the fight against the regime continues, people will be arrested, that they will be subjected to humiliation in custody, their rights will be violated, they will not be given the opportunity to eat normally, meet their family members, and talk to them on the phone. He wants to solve this issue,” Hazi said.

He is sure that Tofig Yagublu believes that all means of fighting arbitrariness have been exhausted and the only way to fight is a hunger strike. Hazi also noted that Tofig Yagublu does not demand the resignation of high-ranking officials.

“He is seeking only observance of elementary rules in correctional institutions, an end to the humiliation of human dignity,” Seymour Hazi emphasized. –0—