After release of book about Azerbaijani prisons, activist reports threats

The Baku police have accepted an application about received threats from Ilkin Rustamzade, who linked the threats with the publication of his book about torture in Azerbaijani jails and the cooperation of the criminal world with the authorities.

According to Rustamzade, on May 31, his sister Tyurkyan Rustamzade faced threats in the street. "A young man grabbed her and said, 'Warn your brother to grow wiser', and then disappeared," Ilkin has stated.

He links the threats with his book "A Story from the Dark", where he tells about his political activities and reveals the "dark sides of Azerbaijani jails" from the experience of his six years of imprisonment.

According to the activist, ten days ago, a social media campaign was launched against him. "The reason was in my criticism of Iran and those who support its policy. Some regarded this as an insult to believers, but there was nothing like that in my post," Rustamzade said.

Namizad Safarov, the coordinator of the Centre against Torture and Repression, has noted that he knows no cases, when law enforcers would efficiently investigate facts of threats received by critics of the authorities. As an example, he cited the threats against Gezyal Bairamly, a deputy chair of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA), and Ruslan Amirov, an activist of the same party.