Azerbaijani journalist Shamshad Aghayev (Agha) has been denied a petition to attend his niece’s funeral, while journalist Ulviyya Guliyeva was prohibited from meeting her family on her birthday, despite having received prior approval from the prison administration.
The Khatai District Court rejected Aghayev’s petition on Tuesday.
RFE/RL has cited Aghayev’s relatives as saying that he had requested to meet his family for a few hours, accompanied by prison guards, in order to attend his niece’s funeral procession.
The day prior, detained members of the pro-democracy Third Republican Platform, Ruslan Izzatli and Akif Gurbanov, appealed President Ilham Aliyev to release Aghayev on account of his wife facing a ‘serious life-threatening illness’ requiring surgery, according to RFE/RL.
‘Unfortunately, the surgery is life-threatening, and doctors cannot give a clear diagnosis about the results, stating that it is a high risk. Shamshad Agha’s family consists of four people and he has two minor children under his care. In such a situation, it is inevitable for Shamshad Agha, as the head of the family, to be with his wife, organise her treatment, and be able to take care of his children’, they wrote in their appeal, which has not received an official response.
Aytan Farhadova
In turn, Gulieyva was barred from seeing her family on Monday, despite having received prior approval from the head of her Pre-Trial Detention Centre, Elnur Ismayilov.
‘I bought a big cake for Ulviyya’s birthday in the morning and took it to Kurdakhani. Elnur Ismayilov did not meet with me, his deputy Ahad Abiyev said that the meeting was rejected’, Guliyeva’s mother, Ilhama Mehmanli, said, as cited by Meydan TV. ‘I protested, asking why Elnur Ismayilov had made a promise and now he is not keeping it, but no one responded’.
‘My daughter Ulviyya called and said: “I’m fine, don’t worry, we’ll laugh at them and win” ’, Mehmanli added.
Both Guliyeva and Aghayev were detained on charges of smuggling as a group as part of the case against independent media outlet Meydan TV.
Aghayev, who was an editor for media outlet Argument, was arrested in February, after initially having been summoned as a witness against the staff of Meydan TV and Toplum TV — another media outlet that was targeted by Azerbaijan’s media crackdown.
Guliyeva, a Voice of America journalist, was detained in May, with her mother telling OC Media that her daughter was beaten during her arrest. Following her arrest, Guliyeva penned a letter from prison detailing her time in police custody, including two separate threats of rape by police officers.
Gulnara Mehdiyeva
