Tofig Yagublu's daughter states threat to his life in SIZO

The arrested politician Tofig Yagublu was placed into a cell where people with infectious diseases are kept, his daughter has stated, expressing her fear that this could undermine her father's health.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Tofig Yagublu, a member of the "Musavat" Party and the coordination centre of the National Council of Democratic Forces (NCDF), was detained on March 22, 2020. His daughter said that while he was in his car, another car drove into him, and people in it began behaving aggressively. The MIA stated that he himself had provoked a road accident and attacked a married couple. The "Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe" Party linked his arrest with authorities' repression against the opposition. On June 19, the court extended Yagublu's arrest by two months. The defence claimed violations in his case.

Yagublu's daughter said that on July 16 her father called from the SIZO (pre-trial prison) and complained that he was placed into a cell with people with infectious diseases, including tuberculosis. Yagublu himself has lung disease. "My father believes that this was done intentionally in order to condemn him to death. His immunity is already damaged because of other diseases, compromised," Nigyar Khazi, his daughter, has stated.

However, the PR division of the Azerbaijani Penitentiary Service has refuted the information about Yagublu's placement into the cell with prisoners suffering from infectious diseases.