Polad Aslanov transferred to the jail’s medical unit

Baku/02.27.21/Turan:  Polad Aslanov, the head of the xeberman.com website, who is serving a prison sentence, has been transferred to the sanitary-medical unit of the jail N 1.  On the 27th day of his hunger strike the journalist has been placed in a separate room and is under medical supervision, reported the wife of the journalist Gulmira Aslanova, who met with her husband on February 27.

“Polad has lost 4 kg in weight. His eyes sank, and his complexion was completely white. His health is very serious. They do not put him on a drip and say that they will do it only after the hunger strike ends. Polad's mother and I asked him to stop the hunger strike. Polad replied that he would stop the action only after he was acquitted. He said that let them speed up the consideration of the case in the Supreme Court, release them, then he would stop the hunger strike,” Gulmira Aslanova said. The attempts to get comment in the Penitentiary Service were futile.

* On November 16, the court found Polad Aslanov, the founder of the website xeberman.com, guilty of espionage for Iran, and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. The state prosecutor asked for 17 years imprisonment.

Aslanov was arrested on June 12, 2019 and charged under the Article 274 of the Criminal Code (treason). The investigation claims that Aslanov recruited fellow journalists and persuaded them to cooperate with the Iranian secret services. Aslanov denied all charges, saying he was being prosecuted for exposing corruption. International organizations condemned his arrest, calling for the release of Aslanov.

On February 1, consideration of P. Aslanov's appeal began. During the court trial, he announced a hunger strike, demanding to ensure the objectivity of the process. -06B06-