Azerbaijan’s activist ends 8-day hunger strike after prison meets demands
Imprisoned Azerbaijani activist Samir Ashurov has ended an eight-day hunger strike after the authorities agreed to no longer physically assault him. Ashurov was reportedly targeted by prison authorities for his part in establishing the Committee for the Protection of Political Prisoners while in prison.
The activist’s wife, Nurana Ashurova, posted on social media that her husband stopped his hunger strike on Sunday after the prison’s director, Vusal Aslanov, agreed to meet his demands.
Ashurov reportedly began facing pressure from the prison management for his role in the committee, a group founded by several other imprisoned journalists and activists, including journalist Hafiz Babali, Desk Confederation of Trade Unions (DCTU) chair Afiaddin Mammadov, economist Fazil Gasimov, and activists Lachin Valiyev and Mehman Aliyev — all of whom are serving time at Prison N2.
The group was created in early December following the suicide of 23-year-old Elbayi Karimli, a member of the Popular Front Party who was arrested in August 2023 for spraying ‘Stalin’ on a monument to former President Heydar Aliyev. Karimli also served in the same prison.
According to independent media outlet Meydan TV, Karimli took his own life in the prison’s medical ward on 12 December. Qafqazinfo, a pro-government media outlet, wrote that the Ministry of Justice announced that it had opened a criminal case into his death.
Ashurova told OC Media that pressure against her husband and other prisoners had increased after the committee was created.
On 27 December, Ashurova wrote that her regular phone call with her husband had been interrupted.
‘I called back, but he didn’t answer. I realized there was a problem again. What’s going on? Why won’t you let us talk on the phone so the prisoner can talk to his family in peace? You can’t deprive a prisoner of the right to talk to his family on the phone’, she wrote on social media at the time.
On 28 December, she posted saying that she received information that her husband had gone on hunger strike after being ‘slapped in the face several times’ by Aslanov, who threatened to place Ashurov in solitary confinement.
According to her, Ashurov suffers from several chronic diseases.
‘He said he was feeling unwell, that his lungs were hurting, and that he could barely stand. I want to remind you again that Ashurov has serious health issues and that he shouldn’t be on hunger strike’, she wrote on social media during his hunger strike.
Ashurov, deported from Germany to Azerbaijan in March 2022, was detained in April. He was initially charged with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm against a victim. He was charged with armed hooliganism and sentenced to six years and six months in prison in December 2023.
An experienced journalist, Aytan has worked with Azerbaijani, regional, and international media. Formerly with Meydan TV, she now lives in Georgia, where she focuses on investigative journalism, covering topics such as government accountability and domestic violence.
