Nida activists arrested in Azerbaijan have serious health problems
It is the 14th day that eight Azerbaijani activists of Nida hold a hunger strike in Baku detention facility number 1. The health of all the protesters is seriously endangered, but the doctors do not show any help, state the parents of the protesters, the "Caucasian Knot" reports.
"Rashadata has a stomach ache, Zaur Gurbanly’s skin is coming off his heels, Uzeyir Mammedli is not able to move. However, the activists will take part in the process to be held on May 1 and will say their last word," said Turkan Huseynova, the wife of Rashadat Ahundov.
As noted in the article, it was Fariz Namazli the lawyer of Bakhtiyar Guliyev and Mamed Azizov, who previously was speaking about the health problems of the arrested after having met them in jail.
In its turn, as the "Caucasian Knot" notes, the Penitentiary Service of Azerbaijani Justice Ministry denied the information about the hunger strike announced by the arrested members of the Nida movement. "The information disseminated by the lawyers and relatives of the prisoners allegedly the prisoners refuse the food for 13 days, are not true," the statement of the Penitentiary Service, released on April 29, reads.
The article reads that the human rights organization Amnesty International calls the accused activists “prisoners of conscience.” Human Rights Watch also expressed its concern over the detention of activists and charges against them. On April 26 the U.S. Senator Benjamin Cardin, called to release the arrested youth activists of Nida in Azerbaijan.
The young people are accused of organizing riots during the protest on Fountain Square in Baku on March 10. They were also charged with illegal possession of weapons, drugs and disorderly conduct.