Death of Mehman Galandarov to Touch All

Baku / 30.04.17 / Turan: On Sunday, after the burial of the political prisoner Mehman Galandarov, who suddenly died in jail, his fellow journalists and public and political figures came to his grave to commemorate his memory.

He was buried secretly near the detention center. According to the official version, Galandarov committed suicide in the cell, but human rights defenders doubt this and believe that he was killed, staging suicide.

"Galandarov was buried this morning in the village of Kurdakhani near the graves of his parents. It is not known who buried him, since relatives refuse to speak, and most likely they were intimidated. According to the information we received, graveyard workers were ordered to dig a grave last night, but they were not even told the time of today's funeral or the identity of the deceased. The funeral was held without the participation of the mullah. Evidence that the organizers of the funeral are not his relatives is the land scattered around the graves of Mehman's parents," the human rights activist Ogtay Gulaliyev said, noting that the earth had not been removed from the graves either.

"I think that this is not suicide," Gulaliyev said further. - Mehman Galandarov himself was a psychologist and adequately assessed the situation. He repeatedly took part in the protests of the arrest of Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov and was arrested after the status in their support. It is possible that he died as a result of torture. When arrested, the police threatened him that he would not leave the prison alive. And here is the result. According to the information we have, the tragedy occurred at a time when Mehman's cellmate was in the bathhouse. It seems that then he committed suicide by hanging himself on a loop from a sheet. A public committee of independent journalists, human rights activists and members of the public should be established to investigate the death of Mehman Galandarov."

"Mehman Galandarov's funeral was held secretly," human rights activist Taleh Khasmamedov told Turan. "This gives reason to doubt that he committed suicide. If he committed suicide, responsible persons could calmly prove this - take photographs, take testimony from Mehman's cellmate and present them to the public. However, this was not done. I do not know if an examination was carried out, but in any case it cannot be called suicide. Yesterday, the Prison Service stated that Mehman is alive and well, that everything is fine, and then denied the information that his body is in the morgue," noted Khasmamedov.

"This is a shocking event," Turan IA Director Mehman Aliyev said. "Recently, the authorities have been increasingly pressing on the free press and blocking websites, and the arrests of journalists and bloggers are proof that there is a new wave of persecution. The authorities, as if want to completely crush freedom of speech. Their attitude is very aggressive. I do not remember that something like this ever happened - an urgent and secret funeral, a ban on the relatives of the deceased to participate in the funeral and hold a wake. This has never happened before. This is a very bad tendency that will touch the entire country, the people and those who commit such a thing," Aliyev added.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Azerbaijan has issued a statement in connection with the death of Mehman Galandarov, which states that a criminal case has been filed on his death under Article 125 of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan (bringing to suicide), and  an investigation is under way. -0-

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Mehman Galandarov Buried Secretly from Public

Baku / 30.04.17 / Turan: The political prisoner Mehman Galandarov, who died in the Kurdakhani jail, was buried on Sunday morning in a cemetery near the Kurdakhani detention center, near his parents. The funeral was held secretly from the public.

Ogtay Gyulaliyev, a human rights activist, wrote about this on his Facebook page.

"The life of Mehman Galandarov came to an end in the Kurdakhani detention center. Alongside the same prison they secretly buried him. But let those who served as the cause of his death and secretly buried him, know that they will not be able to hush up this crime. Let no one doubt that we will do everything possible to expose them and punish them," Gyulaliyev wrote.

After the funeral, the human rights activist found the grave.

Gyulaliyev recalled that Galandarov was the organizer of protest actions under the slogans "We do not want a king!", "Let's all be Giyas!" (Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov were arrested after writing slogans on the monument to Heydar Aliyev), etc.

Galandarov was found dead in the detention center No 1 in Kurdakhani on April 28. 

He was arrested on February 7 on charges of illicit drug trafficking. -06D--