12:11, 31 August 2019

Doctors treat Ragimov's health condition as critical

Ikram Ragimov. Photo from his personal account on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=582039032132658&set=a.143389449330954&type=3&theater

Medical examination has confirmed the grave condition of the journalist, Ikram Ragimov, his cousin Galib Gasanov said.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 12, 2019, 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. On August 7, he went on a hunger strike, demanding an objective consideration of the appeal. On the 20th day of his hunger strike, Ragimov said that he could not move independently. On August 28, the court ruled to leave him in custody.

The journalist has stated that they began persecuting him after the publication of an open letter criticizing Ali Gasanov, the assistant to the president on socio-political issues.

Ikram Ragimov is on a hunger strike for 24 days, his cousin, Galib Gasanov, has stated, adding, citing doctors, that "starting with the 20th day of the hunger strike, the processes in the human body can become irreversible."

He said that doctors of the Baku office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) urged Rahimov to stop his hunger strike, but the journalist is adamant.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 31, 2019 at 00:33 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.