Polad Aslanov stops his hunger strike

Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov stopped his hunger strike on the 31st day, his spouse reported. The woman said that she sent food for him, but was not allowed to visit her husband.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 16, 2020, the court sentenced Polad Aslanov, the editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani Internet editions "Xeberman.com" and "Press-az.com", to 16 years in prison in the case of treason. On February 1, the journalist went on a hunger strike, demanding a fair trial and transfer to house arrest.

Today, Polad Aslanov has stopped his hunger strike, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent has been informed by Gyulmira Aslanova, a journalist's spouse.

"Today, Polad has called his mother and said that he had stopped the hunger strike. The conversation was short, and he did not voice any details," Gyulmira Aslanova said.

According to the woman, today, she has also tried to call her husband or visit him to find out his health condition and ask what he needed.

"I was not allowed to talk to him via phone and to visit him. They only accepted food for Polad. I understand that there is a strict regime and visits are allowed once a month, while phone calls are allowed twice a week. However, taking into account the Polad's hunger strike, they could have let me visit him or talk to him via phone. But, apparently, they want to isolate him as long as possible, because he receives from me the information about actions in his support, publications in the media, and all that gives him moral strength," the journalist's wife believes.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 3, 2021 at 06:21 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.