Zibeyda Sadiqova, the lawyer of the arrested activist of the Popular Front party Niyameddin Ahmedov did not comment on the messages about the hunger strike of her client.
“They do not allow a meeting with him, so I have no information whether he is on hunger strike or not,” she told Turan.
Trial in the case of Ahmedov continues and at the last session (September 22) the prosecutor asked to sentence him to 15 years in prison on a trumped-up charge of financing terrorism. Then Ahmedov told the court that he would start a hunger strike in protest.
On September 23, Ahmedov was transferred to the hospital of the Penitentiary Service, but his lawyer was not allowed to see him, but he was not even allowed to speak on the phone. “Today I called the medical institution again and they told me that Ahmedov had contracted COVID-19, is in quarantine and cannot speak on the phone,” the lawyer said.
At the same time, Ahmedov’s father claims that his son started a hunger strike, protesting against the unfair trial.
* Ahmedov was detained on April 15, 2020. The next day, the court arrested him for 30 days, finding him guilty under the Article 211 (violation of the quarantine regime) and 535 (insubordination to the police) of the Code of Administrative Offenses.
Later he was charged under Article 214-1 (terrorist financing). In particular, the investigation stated that he received money from the oppositionist Gabil Mammadov living in Germany “with the aim of committing terrorist acts.”
The real reason for Ahmedov’s arrest is pressure on the party leader. Thus, the investigation tried to force Ahmedov to incriminate Ali Karimli, but he withstood numerous tortures. Such severe pressure from the authorities is due to the fact that they did not abandon the idea of destroying the Popular Front Party.