TORTURE AND REPRESSIONS IN JANUARY 2020
27 January
The “Ganja case” believer is on the verge of death
Alim Yusifov
According to the website Vetenugrunda.az, Alim Yusifov, a prisoner in the so-called “Ganja case”, has serious health problems. His deteriorated health problems are the result of torture he underwent during the investigation. Yusifov, who is currently in pre-trial detention facility No. 17, repeatedly appealed to the management of the detention centre but he was not granted the right to be examined and treated.
Arzu Aliyeva, the prisoner’s mother, said to the Vetenugrunda.az journalist:
“Alim was brutally tortured in the course of the investigation. He was repeatedly beaten with a truncheon on his head and kidneys. All his internal organs are damaged. His health condition is not good at all. Even though he has been already asking the Penitentiary Service authorities to treat him for months, he is not transferred to any medical facility.
On 11 July 2018, Alim was dragged from his home to the Shamkir District Police Department, from there to the city of Ganja, where he was brutally tortured with demands to admit his involvement in drug trafficking or some other crime. He did not do it, so they broke his arm and nose. His lungs were very badly injured. For so many months he has not been able to get a treatment! And now, while his lungs has not healed yet, his kidneys are on the brink of failure too. All this is a result of severe torture during the investigation period.”
Alim Yusifov was born in Baku on 6 July 1989. Since his early childhood he had been raised only by his mother. When he got married Alim Yusifov moved to a rented house in the Shamkir district. He has two children, one is 8 and the other 9 years old. His wife has a cancer.
He was arrested as part of the Yunis Safarov case, who on 3 July 2018, carried out an assassination attempt on the Head of the Ganja Executive, Elmar Valiyev. The same day, on social media, there were circulated the photos capturing Yunis Safarov’s brutal torture, which immediately triggered numerous protests by the residents of Ganja. The authorities arrested many of them under the charges of terrorism, and in 2019-2021 70 people were sentenced to the lengthy prison terms. Alim Yusifov was one of them and sentenced to 7.5 years imprisonment on 10 May 2019.
31 January
Muslim Unity Movement declared pressure on its members
Logo of the Muslim Unity Movement
In recent days, six activists of the Muslim Unity Movement have been summoned to the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Movement does not disclose the names of these activists, but it is regarded as pressure on them.
“Law enforcement agencies impede our legitimate activities. We will inform international organizations and the diplomatic corps about this,” the document says.