CoE's Commissioner and US Senator urge to drop charge against Mekhman Guseinov

Dunya Miyatovic, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe (CoE), has called on the Azerbaijani authorities to drop the new charge against Guseinov and provide him with the due medical care.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the blogger Mekhman Guseinov had complained of torture after detention, and on March 3, 2017, was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of defamation. On December 26, 2018, the Penitentiary Service announced that two months before the end of his prison term, Guseinov beat up a colony employee. Human rights defenders believe that the new criminal case is an act of revenge on the blogger for his criticizing the country's authorities.

On January 7, Dunya Miyatovic, the CoE's Commissioner for Human Rights, discussed the case of Mekhman Guseinov, "an anti-corruption blogger, who is on a hunger strike in protest against the new charge," with Makhmud Mamed-Guliev, a Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan.

Ms Miyatovic's statement says that Guseinov should be transferred to a civilian hospital, where he can receive the necessary medical care.

"I hope that Azerbaijani authorities will comply with their commitments in the field of human rights. I look forward to progress in the case," says the statement.

Marco Rubio, a US Senator, has also appealed to the authorities of Azerbaijan urging them to immediately release Guseinov.