Blogger Mehman Huseynov was relocated to Prison No. 14 on April 21, announced his lawyer Elchin Sadiqov.
Human rights defender Rasul Jafarov says the prison “has been supposed to be closed down for a while now. There are many other political prisoners there, and it is difficult to get to”.
Former prisoners in this institution agreed to speak to Meydan TV about the conditions within the prison.
Deputy chairman of “Musavat” Party Yadigar Sadiqov says that Prison No. 14 is the most extreme prison in Azerbaijan.
“It opened 50 years ago. It is surrounded by stone and desert. Dust storms pick up easily, and the prisoners are constantly bathed in dust. At some point we had medical masks on our faces. There is one large dormitory with 150 beds in each room, but it is overcrowded. The jail is intended for 1050 people. During my last months there, they didn’t have room for everyone. There is a serious water problem in the prison. The toilets are terrible.”
The chairman of “Musavat” Party Arif Hajılı shared his opinion about this institution on his blog:
“Mehman Huseynov was sent to Prison No. 14 in Qizildash. I remember prisoners there congratulated me whenever they found out I only had five years there. Most of them had 12 or more for “organizing mass riots”. It is better to go to a tuberculosis hot-spot than to go to Prison No. 14.”
Previous political prisoner and social activist Bakhtiyar Hajiyev also spent time at Prison No. 14.
“There is a lack of greenery, of trees and bushes. The toilets are indescribably disgusting. Sometimes the prisoners had to wash their hands and faces with the water their families brought them for drinking. We could only get showers once a week. Prisoners were sleeping on two-storey beds for 40, 100 and 120 people”.
Nasimi District Police Department chief Musa Musayev sued Mehman Huseynov for libel according to Article 147.2 of the Azerbaijani Criminal Codex (slander, false accusation of serious crime). Huseynov was sentenced to two years imprisonment by Surakhani District Court.
His appeals up until now have been rejected.
