The editor of the website xeberman.com Polad Aslanov, who is in jail N 1, is under pressure and harassment, his wife Gyulmira Aslanova told Turan agency.
According to her, rumors spread among the prisoners that during the Second Karabakh war Polad Aslanov allegedly collected information in Tovuz and sent it to Iran, which was then sent to Armenia. Because of this, many prisoners refuse to communicate with Polad Aslanov, and are dismissive of him.
“Only after Polad showed his documents testifying that he was arrested a year before the second Karabakh war, the attitude of some towards him changed. Nevertheless, many treat him contemptuously because of “complicity with Iran,” Gulmira Aslanova continued.
In addition, according to her, the prisoners who communicate with Polad Aslanov are under pressure and one of them was even imprisoned in a punishment cell.
Aslanov is not given newspapers and is kept in a cell with 18 people, many of whom have been convicted of terrorism. If the pressure does not stop, he will start a hunger strike again.
Gulmira Aslanova informed the office of the Ombudsman, the representative office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Penitentiary Service about this.
It should be noted that the report of the US State Department on the state of affairs in the world with human rights, published the day before, reflected the case of Polad Aslanov in the part concerning Azerbaijan.
* On November 16, 2020, the founder of the website xeberman.com, Polad Aslanov, was found guilty of espionage for Iran by the court and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The state prosecutor asked to sentence him to17 years.
Aslanov was arrested on June 12, 2019 and charged under the Article 274 of the Criminal Code (high treason). The investigation claims that Aslanov recruited fellow journalists and persuaded them to cooperate with the Iranian special services. Aslanov denied all charges, saying he was being prosecuted for exposing corruption. International organizations condemned his arrest, calling for the release of Aslanov.
Turan