PFPA activist claims torture

Baku/21.09.21/Turan: Activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA) Alizamin (Zamin) Salayev, who two weeks ago was put in a punishment cell in jail N17, was transferred to Baku jail N1.

Salayev, for the first time during this period, having called from the place of detention, said that he had been tortured twice in the jail,  the PFPA reported.

He was forced to speak out against the leadership of the Popular Front Party, to write a statement on his resignation from the organization. He rejected the offer and has been on a hunger strike for two weeks in protest, the party said.

Salayev's transfer to a pre-trial detention center is connected with the upcoming consideration of his appeal against the refusal of parole. It was not possible to obtain comments from the Penitentiary Service.

* Salayev was convicted on April 20, 2020 by the Salyan District Court and sentenced to 2 years 3 months in prison on charges of "libel" and "insult" based on a complaint from an officer of the local police department.

The reason for the lawsuit was a video broadcast by Salayev on the Internet, in which he, in a conversation with a police officer, accused him of inducing a 21-year-old local woman to cohabit. On August 6, the court denied him parole in connection with serving half of the term.

Human rights activists  recognized Salayev as a political prisoner. —06B-