MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
OFFICERS OF THE PENITENTIARY SERVICE GUILTY IN VIOLENCE AND TORTURES
Agayev Avtandil
Colonel Avtandil Agayev – Chief of the Gobustan.
The Gobustan prison is the prison for convicts for life imprisonment and for long periods of imprisonment. In Gobustan prison, prisoners are kept in cells. It is not allowed to walk, work, study prisoners there, meetings with relatives are rare.
In July- August 2017 Chief of the Gobustan prison Avtandil Agayev, his deputy Emin Jafarov, employees Ilkin Akhundov, Namig Agayev and workers named Rovshan, Igbal tortured the prisoners of so called “ Nardaran case”, sentenced to Gobustan prison. These officers personally tortured Abbas Huseynov, Taleh Bagirov, Jabbar Jabbarovand others.
A. Huseynov himself told the lawyer Yalchin Imanov about tourtures.
On July 22, 2017 he and another convicted Jabbar Jabbarov were taken to the Gobustan prison. As soon as they were brought there, they were immediately handcuffed and dragged along the asphalt.
Huseynov, Jabbarov and another prisoner were put face to face with a wall and kept under the scorching sun. When Huseynov announced his rights, he was told that “here is Gobustan”.
An employee named Rovshan, pointing at Huseynov, said: “This person says a lot, explain all to him,” after which he was beaten with a truncheon by the ensign Ilkin Akhundov. Then Huseynov was thrown into the punishment cell. Despite the fact that the period of detention in the punishment cell expired on July 29, Huseynov was held there until August 5.
In the punishment cell, the situation is terrible; worms and insects crawl along the floor, the toilet is there and absolute uncleanness reigns.
On July 25, Major Namig Guliyev struck Huseynov with his fists in the stomach and in the face, threatening to torture him with an electric shock and mockingly saying: “A truncheon is an inseparable friend of a prisoner.” When Huseynov said that he would complain, the major said that “let you complain where you want.” Moreover, an act was drawn up about the alleged insult of the prison staff by Huseynov.
For 17 days in Gobustan prison, Huseynov was pronounced four reprimands. On July 26, he was taken out of the punishment cell under the pretext of meeting with the commander. However, in the courtyard of the prison, he was tied to an iron post and held for 3 hours under the scorching sun, his hands clasped in handcuffs.
On July 29, despite the completion of the detention in the punishment cell, Huseynov was returned to the punishment cell on the pretext that there were “no places in the quarantine”.
Abbas Huseynov said that on July 29, Taleh Bagirov, leader of the Movement “ Muslim Unity”, was brought to the Gobustan prison. He was kept in the next cell, and Huseynov heard how bad he was feeling. When Bagirov asked the warden Ilkin Akhundov to call a doctor, the warden began to insult the convict.
In response, Huseynov and Jabbarov began to protest, and other prisoners joined their protest, demanding that the warden be punished. A. Huseynov was threatened with sending to the so-called “tuberculosis zone” (prison for tuberculosis patients).
On August 5 Huseynov, in connection with the expiration of the “quarantine” term, was taken to the chief of the Gobustan prison Avtandil Agayev. When Huseynov began to talk about lawlessness, A.Agayev interrupted him and said: “Here is Gobustan – a place where rights end.”
After that Huseynov was thrown to the floor, and Avtandil Agayev began to beat him with a truncheon. The chief of prison struck him 30-35 strokes, including on the head. After that Huseynov was put in a punishment cell for 8 days more. In the punishment cell he was knocked down, handcuffed on his arms and legs (actually crucified), and in this condition he was kept in a punishment cell for two days.
According to the lawyer, there are many injuries and bruises on Huseynov’s body – the back, the legs, the lower back and the knees. On the wrists and legs, there are traces of handcuffs. Huseynov moves with difficulty, limps on one leg and cannot sit.
More information: Abbas Huseynov Tortured in Gobustan Prison – Lawyer 2017 August 09
http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2017/8/free/Social/en/64786.htm
From 1999 to 2007, about 40 prisoners died for various reasons in the Gobustan prison. The Council of Europe notes that in Gobustan prison there is a high level of violence and bullying of prisoners.