Journalist Polad Aslanov continues the hunger strike he started in the colony on July 12, his wife Gulmira Aslanova told Turan.

“Polad was expected to phone home yesterday. But just today he was allowed to phone. He said that representatives of the Red Cross visited him yesterday. They strongly recommended that the hunger strike be stopped. The Red Cross reptresentatives emphasized that if Polad wished, they can help assist in transfering him to another colony. However, Polad said that this would be useless, since the problem lies not in the staff of the colony number 1, where he was serving his sentence. The situation will be the same in another colony, and this is due to the biased attitude towards him and the political nature of his case,” Aslanova said.

She noted that despite the continuation of the hunger strike, her husband had not yet been isolated from other prisoners.

In her words, the journalist continues his hunger strike. He wants officials of foreign embassies and organizations– the United States and EU countries – to visit him so that he could openly inform them about the situation in the colony and the violation of his rights; about “inciting other prisoners against him.”

Earlier, the department of public relations of the penitentiary service stated that the information about Aslanov’s hunger strike and pressures upon him was contrary to reality.

It should be reminded that on November 16, 2019 Aslanov was sentenced to 16 years of imprisonment on treason charges in favor of Iran. He denied the accusation as saying that he had been punished for publishing materials about corruption in law enforcement bodies.

“Reporters Without Borders” and other human rights protection organizations have called on the Azerbaijani authorities to release Polad Aslanov.

Source: Turan News Agency