Polad Aslanov started a hunger strike

Baku/18.05.21/Turan: On 18 May, Polad Aslanov, the founder of the website Xeberman.com, who is serving his sentence in Colony No.1, started a hunger strike. This is his way of protesting against the restrictions imposed on his phone calls and the use of showers.

According to his wife Gulmira Aslanova, prisoners are supposed to shower twice a week, but Polad is only allowed to shower once and only between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. Even so, they only give him water that is too hot or too cold, moreover, they remove the partitions between the cabins so that other prisoners can see him.

According to the order, a prisoner is allowed to have two 15-minute phone calls a week, but Polad is allowed to speak only once and only with his family, forbidding conversations with others, his wife said.

"For this reason, Polad wrote an application to the management of the colony, notifying them of the start of the hunger strike and its reasons," said Gulmira Aslanova.

In their turn, the human rights organization "Defense Line" issued a statement, calling on the Baku office of the Red Cross Committee and the Azerbaijani Ombudsman's Office to ensure the rights of Polad Aslanov, who is considered a political prisoner, and to end his discrimination.

Polad Aslanov had previously gone on hunger strike when the Court of Appeal dismissed his complaint against the unfair decision of the court of first instance in February of this year.

We should remind that ,Aslanov was sentenced on November 16, 2019, to 16 years in prison on charges of treason in favor of Iran. He denied the charge, saying that he was punished for publishing materials about law enforcement corruption.

The organization “Reporters Without Borders”and other human rights organizations called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Polad Aslanov.-0-