Updated list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan includes 155 activists

For the first time, a person placed to a psychiatric hospital was included in the list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. In total, 155 surnames are included in the updated list prepared by the human rights defenders of the "Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 30, 2020, the "Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan" (UFPPA) released a list of political prisoners, which included 140 people.

On May 13, the UFPPA released the updated list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. Authors of the 74-page study proceeded from the criteria for the notion of a "political prisoner," determined by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). It is stated in the list of political prisoners received by the "Caucasian Knot" from the UFPPA.

The updated list is released in connection with the fact that after March, some political prisoners were set free, but at the same time, much more new political prisoners appeared, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed by Elshan Gasanov, a coordinator of the "Union for the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan".

The list of political prisoners in Azerbaijan includes a new category of "prisoners in a psychiatric hospital." Agil Gumbatov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), was mentioned in the above category.

"In the best traditions of the Soviet era, Agil Gumbatov was detained and forcibly placed to a psychiatric hospital. The incident happened after the activist had sharply criticized the President of Azerbaijan on social networks on the Internet," said Leyla Yunus, the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD).

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 14, 2020 at 02:08 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.