The imprisoned director of Abzas Media, Ulvi Hasanli, has announced that he has gone on hunger strike in protest against the ‘illegal actions’ of the Penitentiary Service.
Hasanli began his hunger strike on Sunday, accusing the Penitentiary Service of failing to comply with the court’s decision to place him in the Baku Pretrial Detention Centre.
He made the announcement in an open letter published on his Facebook page, where he said that his lawyer, Zibeyda Sadigova, successfully petitioned the authorities for his transfer to the detention centre at the Baku Grave Crimes Court in early July. However, more than two weeks have passed since the court’s approval, and Hasanli has yet to be transferred.
‘The reason for this is the illegal actions of the Penitentiary Service and its failure to implement the court decision on my return to the Baku Pre-trial Detention Centre’, he said, adding that the agency appeared to ‘not respect the court’s decisions and considers itself above the court’.
This is Hasanli’s second hunger strike during his imprisonment, having first gone on one on 27 June after being transferred to Umbaki Prison, where he was informed that he could not meet with his wife and daughter because they were not officially married.
Hasanli protested this decision and he was placed in solitary confinement as punishment. He ended his first hunger strike on 4 July, nine days after starting it.
In his letter published on Sunday, Hasanli said that he ended his first hunger strike because he was ‘seriously concerned about the health of my colleagues, who began a hunger strike in my support’.
‘Moreover, the head of the penitentiary complex in the settlement of Umbaki, Rauf Nabiyev, also repeatedly promised on behalf of the Penitentiary Service management that I would be transferred to the detention centre by 12 July. However, the result is obvious’, wrote Hasanli.
During his first hunger strike, several other Abzas Media staff joined him in support, including Nargiz Absalamova, Elnara Gasimova, and Sevinj Abbasova Vagifgizi.
Others to have joined the hunger strike were detained journalists from Meydan TV, including Aynur Elgunesh, Aytaj Tapdig, Khayala Aghayeva, Aysel Umudova, and Fatima Movlamli. Their hunger strike only lasted a day, as Hasanli ended his hunger strike after they had joined.
‘The deadline passed, and I was never transferred. Then I waited another eight days beyond the promised deadline, saying “today or tomorrow”. During this time, prisoners were transferred to the Baku Pretrial Detention Centre at least three times, but I was never returned’.
Abzas Media reported that promises to transfer Hasanli to the detention centre had not been fulfilled, and that the authorities are currently ‘proposing other solutions’.
The independent news outlet reported that the head of the centre, Elnur Ismailov, stated that they can call Hasanli and ask for his transfer to the medical institution of the Penitentiary Service before the Court of Appeal, ‘where conditions are good’.
‘If something happens to me, the responsibility will fall directly on the head of the Penitentiary Service, Deputy Minister of Justice, General Mirsaleh Seyidov, and President Ilham Aliyev, who made the decision to arrest us’, Hasanli continued in his letter.
‘I ask my female colleagues not to join this hunger strike. I am extremely concerned that something will happen to them and that their health will be harmed’, he concluded.
Abzas Media’s staff were handed sentences ranging from seven to nine years in prison on charges of smuggling as a group on 20 June. Hasanli and others convicted in the case, including journalist Hafiz Babali, coordinator Mahammad Kekalov, and RFE/RL journalist Farid Merhalizada, were allowed transfer to the detention centre instead of serving time in a prison.
Aytan Farhadova
