Faithful prisoner begins hunger strike

Ismayil Mammadov

Ismayil Mammadov, a prisoner is in a tough spot. He is in prison for drug charges. He says he is innocent. Ismayil Mammadov has started a hunger strike because he is not allowed to see his family or talk to them on the phone.

His family told that they last spoke to Ismayil Mammadov on the phone for one minute on April 25. Ismayil Mammadov said that he would talk to the person in charge of the prison Elnur Ismayilov, about the problem. If the problem is not solved Ismayil Mammadov will not eat until something is done.

Ismayil Mammadov's wife is very worried. She has not heard from her husband Ismayil Mammadov in five days. She does not know why the prison is not letting him see his family or talk to them. Ismayil Mammadov's wife is also worried about his health because he has not eaten in five days.

Ismayil Mammadov's wife said: "We have not heard from my husband Ismayil Mammadov in five days and we are very worried about his health. We do not know why Elnur Ismayilov is not letting him see us. Today we called the Ombudsman again. They just said there is a ban."

For over a month Ismayil Mammadov has not been able to see his family or talk to them on the phone. The prison said that the person investigating the case put a restriction on Ismayil Mammadov. Then the investigator said he lifted the ban. Now the prison is saying they put the restriction in place again.

Ismayil Mammadov was taken away by the police on March 3. He was arrested for using a lot of drugs, which his family says is not true. His family says that the police were mean to Ismayil Mammadov when they took him away and they wanted him to say he did something he did not do.

A lot of people who practice their religion are being arrested in Azerbaijan. This started to happen often after someone attacked the Azerbaijani embassy in Iran on January 27 2023.

There are currently 340 people in prison in Azerbaijan who should not be there. Out of these people 192 are in prison because of their religion. Ismayil Mammadov is one of them.