Red Cross doctors visit hunger-striking Azerbaijani journalist Ragimov

On August 23, Ikram Ragimov, an Azerbaijani journalist, who is on a hunger-strike at the SIZO (pre-trial prison), was visited by doctors of the Baku office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Ragimov intends to continue his hunger strike until he is released, his cousin, Galib Gasanov, has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 12, a court in Baku found Ikram Ragimov, the editor-in-chief of the "Realliq.info" website, guilty of extortion, and sentenced him to 5.5 years in prison. Ragimov, who went on a hunger strike on August 7 demanding an objective review of his appeal at the BCA.

On August 23, Ragimov was visited by employees of the ICRC's Baku representative office, Galib Gasanov told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. "Ikram said that his condition is critical: because of dizziness, he cannot get on his feet, one leg is practically paralyzed," said Gasanov.

According to his story, despite the grave health condition, Ragimov intends to continue his hunger strike. "Ikram said that he has no other way to achieve justice. If the court does not release him at the session on August 28, he will starve himself to death," Mr Gasanov has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 23, 2019 at 09:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.