Arrested PFPA member is on hunger strike

Baku/18.05.20/Turan: An activist of the Popular Front Party, a Karabakh war veteran, Babek Hasanov, went on a hunger strike in custody on May 17, he told his brother Cavid Hasanli about it on telephone. The hunger strike began in protest against the actions of the jail administration, which prohibits other prisoners from communicating with him. Babek Hasanov said that some prisoners were beaten by guards because they talked to him. “The situation in jail N 6 is deplorable: prisoners are kept in punishment cells for weeks, punished for no reason, extorting bribes,” the brother of the convict said.

The Prison Service denies the fact of hunger strike and pressure on Babek Hasanov. The head of the press service, Mehman Sadigov, also denied allegations of punishment of prisoners for communicating with Babek Hasanov.

 Babek Hasanov was sentenced to 4 years in prison in a fabricated case of allegedly illegal financing of the Popular Front Party. Several more people were convicted together with him. Their fault is that they provided financial assistance to the families of political prisoners. -16B-