Aghil Humbatov Released from Mental Hospital

Baku / 02.07.20 / Turan: Member of the Popular Front Party, Aghil Humbatov, was released from a psychiatric hospital in the village of Mashtaga, where he spent three months, on July 1.

As Humbatov himself told Turan, he was kept in the mental hospital unreasonably. Upon release, he was only given a paper on discharge without a medical certificate.

The lawyer has already filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court and a statement to the ECHR on the unjustified non-issuance of a decision of the court of appeal.

The Humbatov case caused a great resonance in Azerbaijan and abroad. Human rights activists saw in this case the reanimation of the harmful Soviet practice of imprisoning dissidents in a psychiatric hospital. Local human rights activists recognized Humbatov as a political prisoner, and Amnesty International launched a campaign in his defense.

Recall that the activist who makes a living by collecting cardboard in a video appeal criticized the government, including the President, for the socio-economic situation of the country's citizens.

On March 30, he was detained on the street while collecting cardboard and taken to the police of the Khazar district, and from there he was taken to a psychiatric hospital.

Two days later, he was released by the decision of the Sabunchu court, which rejected the request of the head physician of the hospital Agahuseyn Rasulov for compulsory treatment.

A day later, Humbatov was again detained and taken to the same hospital, as the head physician appealed the decision of the court.

The Baku Court of Appeal granted the appeal and the doctor’s allegations that Humbatov could not control his actions by committing immoral acts against others.

Very soon, Judge Samir Talibov, who released Humbatov from the psychiatric hospital for the first time, was fired.

Official Baku claims that no one in the country is being prosecuted for critical views.   -21D-