18:36, 20 February 2004

Arrested Azerbaijan oppositionists stop hunger strike

Arrested Azerbaijan oppositionists stopped hunger strike they had started on February 9, reported Niyazi Mamedov, an official of the Main Department of Penalty Execution of the Azerbaijan Ministry of Justice.

"The state of the hunger strike participants is normal; medical intervention is not needed. Just some changes have been made to their nourishment, with their state being taken into consideration," said the ministry's official.

Deputy chairs of the opposition Musavat party, Arif Gadjiyev and Rauf Arifoglu, who is also editor-in-chief of the opposition Yeni Musavat newspaper, and the chairman of the People's Party, Panakh Guseynov, went on hunger strike on February 9. All the three are held at Investigatory Isolation Ward 1 of Baku. By such a protest action, the oppositionists expressed their disagreement with their arrest and demanded that the trial be started as soon as possible.

Editors note: See also the article "Yeni Musavat editor-in-chief Rauf Arifoglu stops hunger strike".

Source: Interfax News Agency