Azerbaijani journalist Polad Aslanov attempted to commit suicide in prison by cutting his arms, his wife Gulmira Aslanova wrote on Facebook.
Aslanov is editor-in-chief of independent news outlets Xeberman and Press-az. He was arrested for 16 years on charge of treason in November 2020, being accused of selling state secrets to Iran. Aslanov denies the charge and claims his arrest is in response to his reporting on state corruption.
Gulmira Aslanova states that her husband started hunger strike on January 6, demanding that the Supreme Court hold a hearing on his case “soon and objectively”, and make a fair decision.
“They took away his water so that he wouldn’t be able to continue hunger strike and give up. Today [January 10] is the day he calls home. They didn’t let him make a call. And he cut his arms in protest. Only then they let him make a phone call,” Aslanova wrote.
