The spouses of the arrested journalists held a protest action

Baku/05.04.21/Turan: Sevinj Sadigova and Gulmira Aslanova, the spouses of arrested journalists Afgan Sadigov and Polad Aslanov, held a rally in front of the buildings of the Ministry of Justice and the Penitentiary Service.  They expressed dissatisfaction with the conditions of detention of journalists.

"Afghan Sadigov has been on hunger strike for 153 days. His health is very serious. However, Afgan is kept in a hospital of the Ministry of Justice in a 25 square meter ward with 8-10 patients. Afgan's immunity is very weak. They even had tuberculosis - torture,” Sadigova noted.

Polad Aslanov's wife Gyulmira Aslanova said that he was being held in jail N. 1, in a barrack with 18 people. “Sixteen of those people are sick. It is inhuman for her husband,” she said.

The spouses of the journalists were received at the Ministry of Justice and advised to apply to the penitentiary service. “The penitentiary service told us that measures will be taken in connection with our demands. Tomorrow is my meeting day with Afgan. During the meeting with him, it will become known whether or not our requirements have been taken into account,” Sadigova told the Voice of America radio station.

On November 16, 2019, 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. He was arrested on June 12, 2019 and charged under Article 274 of the Criminal Code (High Treason). The investigation claims that Aslanov, attracting fellow journalists, pushed them to cooperate with the Iranian special services.

The journalist pleaded not guilty, and stated that this accusation is aimed at restricting his journalistic activities.

On February 1, 2021, during the consideration of the appeal of Polad Aslanov, the journalist went on a hunger strike with the requirement to ensure the objectivity of the process in court. He continued to starve for over a month.

On February 15, in the Baku Court of Appeal, chaired by Judge Khasan Ahmedov, did not satisfy the appeal of Polad Aslanov.

Afghan Sadigov was detained on May 13, 2020 and the Binagadi District Court of Baku chose a preventive measure against him in the form of detention.

According to the investigation, Sadigov was detained together with the editor of the website xeberfakt.az Sakit Muradov while receiving a bribe of 10,000 manats. At the same time, Muradov was not arrested.

On November 3, the Azel.TV Baku Grave Crimes Court found the website editor guilty of extorting money through threats and sentenced him to seven years in prison. Sadigov has been on hunger strike since November 3, 2020 in protest against the court's decision, and today he continues his hunger strike for 153 days.

On January 28, 2021, the Sumgait Court of Appeal partially changed the sentence against Afgan Sadigov, reducing his sentence to 6 years in prison.

“I consider the verdict of the court to be unfair. There is no article containing threats and blackmail," the journalist said in court.

Before his arrest, Afgan Sadigov came out with an article entitled “Crime hidden in Takhtakorpu.” The article refers to sexual violence in the village of Takhtakorpu against two single and helpless women (one of them is a minor).

The journalist expressed concern that violence against women is not being investigated. He brought this information to the attention of the YouTube Channel.

Sadigov also criticized a group of people he suspects of drug smuggling and officials of the executive power of the city of Sumgait.

“We know very well where the instruction came from, because I sharply criticized several high-ranking officials,” Sadigov wrote on his Facebook page before his arrest.

Many local and international human rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, the US Department of State, and Reporters without Borders, issued statements and called on the Azerbaijani government to release immediately the journalists.-03-