Committee to Protect Civil Society Visits Families of Prisoners of Conscience on Occasion of Holy Sacrifice Day

On September 24 the members of the Committee for Protection of Civil Society, head of Monitoring Centre for Political Prisoners Elshan Hasanov, chief editor of the Khural newspaper Avaz Zeynalli, and Director of the Information Agency "Turan" Mehman Aliyev on the occasion of Holy Sacrifice Day (Kurban Bayram) visited the families of "prisoners of conscience" - journalists and bloggers, and gave them gifts.

Members of the Committee visited the families of Tofig Yagublu, Ilkin Rustamzadeh, Hilal Mamedov, Siraj and Faraj Kerimli, Rauf Mirkadyrov, Omar Mamedov, Rashadat Akhundov, as well as the family of the journalist Rasim Aliyev, who was murdered in August.

The Committee also congratulated the families of Parviz Hashimli, Khadija Ismail, Seymour Hazi, Nijat Aliyev, Araz Guliyev, and Arshad Ibrahimov. They were not able to visit them due to their absence at home or stay in the regions.

After meeting with the families of prisoners of conscience Avaz Zeynalli said the Committee intends to hold a series of events dedicated to political prisoners, and to continue such actions.

"Each family of the political prisoner must feel that they are not alone and could rely on the support of civil society. From this point of view, we have to visit the families of political prisoners not only on holidays, but also on ordinary days, to be aware of the situation in prisons and work together to find solutions to their problems. In any case, these families face injustice, and such visits are important in terms of moral support for the families of political prisoners," Zeynalli noted.

The Chairwoman of the Committee Arzu Abdullayeva, who was unable to take part in the action due to her trip abroad, said that the Committee intends to systematically visit all the families of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.

There are 14 imprisoned journalists and bloggers in Azerbaijan. -0-