Journalist Parviz Hashimli’s lawyer pressured

On October 2 lawyer Elchin Sadigov met with Bizim Yol newspaper journalist and moderator.az editor-in-chief Parviz Hashimli, who is held at the detention facility of the Ministry of National Security (MNS). After the meeting, the MNS employees demanded the lawyer to hand the written notes he had made during the meeting with the journalist, the lawyer has told the Institute for Reporters’ Freedom and Safety (IRFS).

“The MNS employees did not allow me to leave, saying that their chief wants to review my notes. I objected, but they held me there for half an hour and let me go after compelling me to show my notes. This constitutes a serious violation of the journalist’s right to defense and also an illegal interference with my professional activity” noted the lawyer.

Today Sadigov met with Hashimli once again.

According to the lawyer, the journalist still complains of his detention conditions, particularly of the facts that lights are always on in his cell, he is not provided with opposition newspapers and denied a meeting with his family. The journalist also wants to be transferred from the MNS detention facility to the Baku detention center of Penitentiary Service.

In a Facebook post, lawyer Elchin Sadigov wrote that Parviz is pressurized to give some statement. Despite of our request, Sadigov refused to provide details regarding this post.

In a telephone interview, Hashimli’s father Kamran Hashimov told IRFS that he has met and discussed his son’s case with the US ambassador Richard Morningstar.

“I asked the ambassador to pay special attention and raise my son’s case in his meetings with the president and other state officials. I also want to tell the President that my son is not a terrorist. He was arrested for his journalistic activity” said the journalist’s father.

Background: Parviz Hashimli was detained on September 17 by employees of the Ministry of National Security. On September 18 the journalist was handed down a two-month pretrial detention sentence by the Sabail District Court awaiting trial under two articles of the Azerbaijani Criminal Code: Article 206.3.2 (smuggling of firearms on preliminary arrangement by an organized group) and 228.2.1 (illegal obtaining, storing, carrying firearms and their spare parts on preliminary arrangement by an organized group).

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