Azerbaijani activist placed into dungeon for reading a book, his mother says

In Azerbaijan, imprisoned activist Giyas Ibragimov has complained of being placed into a dungeon (punishment cell) because of reading a book after the beginning of the night's sleep regime time. The Penitentiary Service claims that Giyas Ibragimov violated the regime, but denies the fact of his placement to the punishment cell.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 25, 2016, Giyas Ibragimov was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment on the charge of illegal drug trafficking.

On September 24, Shura Amiraslanova, a mother of Giyas Ibragimov, informed the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that on September 23, her son called home and said he had been placed to the punishment cell for nine hours a day earlier.

According to Shura Amiraslanova, late in the evening on September 21, after the lights were switched off, her son was reading a book in the light of a lantern. However, two warders ordered him to sleep and noted he had committed a violation and after that the activist switched off the lantern.

"Nevertheless, in the other morning, the warders complained to the deputy head of the penal colony and said that Giyas had allegedly refused to obey. After that, Giyas was placed to the punishment cell for nine hours. He was placed to a cell with sewage, but without a seat. He had to spend all the time standing there," noted Shura Amiraslanova.

According to Mekhman Sadygov, the chief of the PR Department for the Penitentiary Service, Giyas Ibragimov violated the regime.

Mekhman Sadygov has noted that according to the internal rules, prisoners are to sleep from 10:00 p.m. till 6:00 a.m., and no actions are allowed to violate the peace of prisoners at that time period.

Meanwhile, Mekhman Sadygov has noted that Giyas Ibragimov was not placed to the punishment cell, "but was simply reprimanded in connection with the violation of discipline."

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on September 25, 2018 at 01:00 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.