Imprisoned member of Muslim Unity movement went on dry hunger strike in Azerbaijan
Imprisoned Azerbaijani Muslim Unity member goes on dry hunger strike
Arrested member of the Muslim Unity movement Razi Humbatov has gone on a dry hunger strike in support of the leader of the movement, Taleh Bagirzade. The hunger strike of Bagirzade himself, who is also under arrest, has been going on for 12 days. He demands an end to ‘blasphemy’ in police stations in Azerbaijan.
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What happened?
The dry hunger strike of Razi Humbatov, a member of the Muslim Unity movement, has already been going on for four days. Before the start of the hunger strike, he notified the head of the prison about it. This was reported to Toplum TV by Ramin Gumbatov, brother of Razi Gumbatov.
With his hunger strike, Gumbatov expresses his support for the leader of the Muslim Unity movement, Taleh Bagirzade. Bagirzade himself has been on a hunger strike for 12 days. He is also incarcerated.
“I met him yesterday – he is depressed, no color in the face. Although he does not have a fever, his eyes are completely reddened. He says that his head hurts a lot. When we met, he had not yet been taken out of the common cell. From the first day he refused water. And how many people can live without water?”, Ramin Humbatov told reporters.
According to doctors, death occurs on the 8-10th day of a dry hunger strike.
Ramin Humbatov noted that his brother had previously intended to hold a hunger strike:
“They are being punished for no reason. My brother went on a hunger strike both for this reason and because if the blasphemy of the police. Without presenting evidence, he was imprisoned for 6 years. A year has already passed. Previously, we also dissuaded him from the idea of starting a hunger strike, explaining that he would not achieve anything by doing this. Yesterday he told me that he would either get out of there dead or rehabilitated”.
Background
On May 28, 2022, the Baku Grave Crimes Court sentenced Razi Gumbatov to 6 years in prison. He was found guilty under the article “illicit drug trafficking on an especially large scale” of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan.
The leader of the Muslim Unity movement, Taleh Bagirzade, who is under arrest, went on a hunger strike on June 3, 2022. Other members of the movement and several believers also joined the hunger strike in support of Bagirzade.
Bagirzade, with his action, is protesting against blasphemy in the police. According to him, in police departments, law enforcement officers torture detainees and swear at Allah.
Such claims were first made by believers after May 20, 2022, when the police detained two men in front of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes. A few days later they organized a press conference. where they told reporters about the torture they were subjected to in the police department. They also noted that the police insulted Allah in their presence.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs refuted the claims of believers about obscene words addressed to Allah. The head of the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, Ehsan Zahidov, said that the Azerbaijani police treat all religions with respect.
