Azerbaijani rights defenders and activists urge to pardon Salekh Rustamov

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), journalists and activists have called on the President of Azerbaijan to release Salekh Rustamov from prison, who has been refusing to eat for 14 days already. Rustamov has problems with his memory; he is very weak, his advocate asserts.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 6, Salekh Rustamov, an activist of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), went on a hunger strike in protest of the fact that he was not covered by the amnesty announced by the President of Azerbaijan on the anniversary of the victory in the Karabakh war. Rustamov's relatives have persuaded him not to switchover to a dry hunger strike.

According to investigators, Rustamov collected funds from the Azerbaijani citizens doing business in Russia to support the PFPA.

"We are seriously concerned about the life of Salekh Rustamov. He is a veteran of the first Karabakh war; from his young age he participated in the militia to protect the border villages of the Gadabay District," said Novella Djafaroglu, a member of the Monitoring Group of Azerbaijani Human Rights Organizations. She believes that the president has exclusive powers to pardon convicts.

Let us remind you that the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC) has called on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Salekh Rustamov from jail.