Fuad Abbasov goes on hunger strike

The Azerbaijani journalist, Fuad Abbasov, who was found by the Russian court to be an infringer of the migration legislation, has been placed, instead of being deported, into a temporary detention centre for foreigners located near Moscow. Abbasov has treated it as unjustified deprivation of freedom and went on a hunger strike.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 16 in Moscow, Fuad Abbasov, the head of the Centre for Information Initiatives, was detained on charges of violating the migration legislation. During the detention, Abbasov was beaten up, his advocate, Elman Pashaev, has stated. It was expected that Abbasov would be deported to Baku. Protests against his deportation were held in front of the Russian Embassy to Azerbaijan.

Fuad Abbasov, a journalist, announced his hunger strike in the evening on June 7. "Today, I was to leave for Azerbaijan, but on the way to the airport the car was turned around and I was taken to a special detention centre for migrants in the dwelling settlement of Korolyov in the Moscow Region. Let them either let me go to Azerbaijan or release me. Therefore, I start a hunger strike," the "Report.az" quoted Mr Abbasov's statement on the same day.

Abbasov said that he was unaware of the reason for the decision to return him to the temporary detention centre for foreign citizens. "If this decision has to do with the abolition of the deportation, then, I demand that they let me go home to my family. But if the deportation decision is still in force, then, I ask them to let me to the airport so that I could leave the Russian Federation", the "1news.az" quoted Fuad Abbasov as saying on June 7.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 8, 2019 at 02:50 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.