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The problems of press censorship are still unsettled in Azerbaijani prison No. 13, Azerbaijani information agency Turan reports citing the family of the chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, Anar Mammadli, who serves his term in that prison. 

According to his family, Mammadli said that some articles and materials are cut out of the newspapers before being given to the political prisoners. “To protest, the convicts rejected to read the newspapers for two weeks. Moreover, electricity, gas and water are supplied intermittently in the prison. The administration explains this by ‘savings,’” the article reads.

Anar Mammadli was arrested on 16 December, 2013 and sentenced to 5.5 years’ imprisonment on charges of illegal entrepreneurship and tax evasion. Amnesty International has recognized Anar Mammadli a prisoner of conscience. He is a Václav Havel award winner, as the article has it.

The Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre carried out a monitoring of the presidential elections on 9 November, 2013 as an NGO and pointed out numerous violations of law. A number of human rights defenders declared that it was the reason why Anar Mammadli was arrested.

The Committee of the protection of the rights of Anar Mammadli, the chairman of the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Centre, citing the convicted activist’s family, has earlier reported that the Azerbaijani political prisoner Anar Mammadli and other political prisoners in the penal colony get the newspapers with 3-4 days’ delay, and the articles about the political prisoners are cut out.

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In Azerbaijan newspapers are handed to political prisoners with articles about them cut out