The wife of a political prisoner held a protest in front of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Baku/12.08.22/Turan: On August 12, the wife of a political prisoner, an activist of the Popular Front Party, Agyl Humbatov, held a protest in front of the country's Ministry of Internal Affairs. Employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs pushed her away from the building of the department, after which the woman made statements to the press.

Aygun Humbatova announced that her husband was being persecuted for political reasons on trumped-up charges. In protest, her husband "has been on a hunger strike for 3-4 days now."

Humbatova said that yesterday her husband called and said that he had been transferred to the medical unit of the jail.

“His voice  was very weak. I asked for the sake of the children to stop the hunger strike, not to undermine their health and endanger life. Now I don’t know what’s wrong with him,” she said.

The woman noted that after the arrest of her husband, the family was left without a breadwinner and she cannot support three children alone, one of whom suffers from a serious disease of the nervous system. She brought her eight-year-old child with her to the action.

Her husband's case will be heard by the Supreme Court next month and the woman has demanded his release. Later, police officers sent her to an appointment at the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In November 2021, the Baku Serious Crimes Court sentenced Humbatov to 10 years in prison on charges of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm because of hooligan motives (Article 126.2.4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan).  He was found guilty of stabbing Yamen Mammadov, a resident of the Zira village, on August 11. 

However, according to human rights activists, a provocation was committed against Humbatov, and the real reason for the arrest of the activist was his criticism of the country's leadership on social networks. A year ago, Humbatov was imprisoned in a psychiatric hospital for criticizing the authorities. -30B06-