Health conditions of Saleh Rustamov on hunger strike for 21st day remains grave

Baku/26.11.21/Turan: Health conditions of Saleh Rustamov remains extremely grave as of the 21st day of hunger strike, his lawyer Bahruz Bayramov said after meeting with his client at the Medical Center of the Penitentiary Service.

"We saw Saleh Rustamov through the glass partition and talked on the phone. He was still very weak and was holding on with difficulty, so we spoke very little.

His voice was hoarse and his speech incoherent, and he did not understand me immediately. I conveyed him insistent request of his relatives to stop the hunger strike.  Saleh sharply objected. Then I conveyed their request not to give up the water, which he was going to do from today.  To this he agreed," said the lawyer.

Doctors assessed Rustamov's condition as "extremely serious" and say they "will have to switch to force-feeding."

"However, Saleh told me that if he was forced, he would kill himself," the lawyer said.

* Supporter of the Party of People's Front of Azerbaijan (PPFA)Saleh Rustamov was arrested in May 2018 and sentenced to 7 years 3 months of imprisonment in the so-called "illegal financing of the PPFA" case. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner. Subsequently, the Supreme Court reduced his sentence by 2 months. Since November 6th he went on an open-ended hunger-strike demanding his release. -B06-