Afgan Mukhtarly was refused participation in the funeral of his sister and nephews (UPDATED)

Baku / 01.01.18 / Turan: On Monday, the funeral of the sister and two young nephews of the arrested journalist Afgan Mukhtarli was held in Zagatala.

According to the preliminary version, they died as a result of suffocation from carbon monoxide on December 31 in an apartment in Zagatala.

Afgan Mukhtarly, who was on the day of the funeral in jail in the neighboring Sheki region, was not admitted to the funeral under the pretext of being under investigation.

The lawyer of journalist Elchin Sadigov told Turan that Afghan wrote an appeal to the head of the investigator and the leadership of the Penitentiary Service asking for permission to attend the funeral. However, permission was declined.

Human rights defenders who came into contact with the authorities on this issue were also unable to help.

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2018 January 02 (Tuesday) 17:14:10

A lawsuit in the fact of the death of Afgan Mukhtarly's relatives (UPDATED)

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2018 January 01 (Monday) 00:07:15

A lawsuit in the fact of the death of Afgan Mukhtarly's relatives (UPDATED)

Baku / 01.01.18 / Turan: A lawsuit has been filed on the fact of the death of the relatives of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly in Zagatala district. Law enforcers are working on versions of the onset of death as a result of choking from carbon monoxide or food poisoning. Zagatala district prosecutor's office reported, that on December 31 at around 14:00 this department received a message about the discovery of the corpses of Mukhtarli Nurana Sabir gizi, born in 1982, Mammadzadeh Nilay Ilgar gizi of the year of birth and Mukhtarli Fatima Ramazan gizi, born in 2005 in the second quarter of the city of Zagatala, G.Tagiyev Street.14.

The scene was examined with the participation of employees of the district police, PA "Azerigaz" and forensic experts. The apartment, in which corpses were found, consisted of one room, a kitchen and a bathroom. The apartment was heated by an artisan method made of cast iron material with an oven that was connected to the gas line by a rubber slip. During forensic examination of corpses samples were taken for the probability of suffocation from carbon monoxide or food poisoning.

In fact, the Zagatala district prosecutor's office launched a lawsuit under Article 314.3 (negligence, which caused the death of two or more persons through negligence) of the Criminal Code. Investigative and operational measures are carried out around the versions of the death of these individuals from choking with carbon monoxide or as a result of food poisoning, the Zagatala district prosecutor's office said. -0-

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2017 December 31 (Sunday) 16:54:41

Afgan Mukhtarly's sister and nephews found dead

Baku / 31.12.17 / Turan: Sister and two nephews of journalist Afgan Mukhtarly were found dead in the house of the city of Zagatala on December 31, around 2:00 pm.

According to preliminary data, death was caused by strangulation of carbon monoxide. Journalist's sister Nurana rented a house at Zeynalabdin Tagiyev Street 2, apt. 14.

Her young child and her brother Ramazan"s young daughter. Meydan TV was informed about the incident by Afghan Mukhtarli's brother Elshan.

"They heated the house with a gas stove. At night the fire went out, there was a strong wind. The gas filled the apartment," he said.

According to him, in the house was another child of Nurana, who survived. Elshan said that the bodies of the dead were taken for examination in the Zakatal branch of the Pathological anatomy association.

Afgan Mukhtarly, who is in custody in the remand center, was informed of the incident.

He asked the lawyer Elchin Sadikhov, through the editor-in-chief of the Bastainfo website, Mustafa Hajibeyli, that he solicit his participation at the funeral. The lawyer filed a petition with the Penitentiary Service, but so far no permission has been received.

The journalist Afgan Mukhtarly, who had permission for temporary residence in Georgia, was kidnapped in the center of Tbilisi on May 29, and then transferred to Azerbaijan. According to him, this was done by the employees of the criminal police of Georgia together with law enforcement bodies of Azerbaijan. The next day, Mukhtarly was in Baku, where the court arrested him on charges of three articles: 315 (resistance to the representative of the authorities), 318.1 (illegal border crossing) and 206.1 (smuggling).

Mukhtarli is recognized as a political prisoner by local and international human rights defenders. Colleagues are convinced that he is being persecuted for his critical publications about corruption in Azerbaijan. -0--