Polad Aslanov imprisoned in punishment cell

Polad Aslanov, the head of the 'xeberman.com' website, has been put in a punishment cell after being transferred to Penitentiary Institution N15, his wife Gulmira Aslanova said.

‘I was informed from the Penitentiary Service on the 5th of November in the evening that Polad had been put in a punishment cell. They explained that Polad was on hunger strike and had to be isolated, and since there were no free places in the sanitary unit, they put him in the punishment cell.  In fact, they just punished him,’ Aslanova said.

On the morning of 6 November, she went to the colony to clarify her husband's condition. However, she was not given a visit or a telephone conversation with her husband.

Aslanov went on hunger strike on 4 November demanding the release of political prisoners. After that he was transferred from colony N1 to colony N15, where conditions are worse.

* Head of 'xeberman.com' Polad Aslanov was arrested on 12 June 2019 on charges of spying for Iran - Article 274 of the Criminal Code (state treason). He was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment.

Aslanov denies all charges, saying that he is being persecuted for exposing corruption among intelligence officers. Human rights activists recognised him as a political prisoner. The Supreme Court subsequently reduced Aslanov's prison sentence to 13 years.