The journalist is kept in a cell under video surveillance – lawyer

Journalist Elnara Gasimova, who was detained by the police the day before, is being held in the temporary detention facility of the Khatai district police department under video surveillance. In addition, she was taken to court in handcuffs, the lawyer of the journalist Aisha Abdel Gadir told Turan. In this regard, she sent a complaint to the Ombudswoman, but the office of the Ombudswoman states that they have not received such a complaint.

"In the temporary detention facility Gasimova was told that there is no video surveillance in the cells for women. However, we saw on the monitor that there are video surveillance cameras there. For this reason, the journalist was forced to change clothes in the toilet before taking her to court," the lawyer noted.

She also believes that the journalist was unreasonably taken to court in handcuffs on January 15. Handcuffs can only be put on in case of insubordination, which was not the case in this case. The lawyer noted that Gasimova will be transferred to a pre-trial detention center today. The press service of the Turan Ombudsman's office said that they had not received complaints about violations of Gasimova's rights. The Interior Ministry could not be reached for comment.

Elnara Gasimova was detained on January 13 as a suspect under Article 206.3.2 (smuggling by prior agreement of persons) of the Criminal Code. On January 15, the court chose a preventive measure against her in the form of arrest for a period of 3 months. She became the sixth journalist and media worker involved in the “Abzas Media” case.