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The imprisoned lawyer and human rights activist Aliabbas Rustamov has been on a hunger strike at Prison Number 10 for four days. The journalist Shahvalad Chobanoglu, whom Rustamov himself called, reported that.
According to the journalist, Rustamov stated that he considers his arrest to be illegal and intends to go on a hunger strike until his release.
On August 7, the Supreme Court will consider the question of the conditional release of Rustamov in connection with the completion of 2/3 of the sentence and the convict wants to draw the attention of local and international organizations to his case.
In March of this year, the Baku Court of Appeal rejected Rustamov”s appeal for parole.
The head of the public relations department of the Prison Service, Mehman Sadigov, in response to Turan”s request about the hunger strike, said that prisoners have the right to do so, but they should formally turn to the leadership of the institution about the reasons for their actions. In this case, they are isolated from other prisoners and are provided the due health control. At the same time, Sadigov did not confirm or deny the hunger strike conducted by Rustamov.
* Rustamov was arrested on June 28, 2014. He was charged under Articles 312.2 (bribery) and 313 (official forgery) of the Criminal Code. The Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced him to 7 years in prison.
In July 2017, the Supreme Court reduced the sentence to 6 years in prison. Rustamov denied the charges. Human rights activists recognize Rustamov as a political prisoner.
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