Opposition activist Fuad Ahmadli released after four years in prison
Opposition activist Fuad Ahmadli has been released after 4 years in prison in Azerbaijan.
“I wish the same for my imprisoned friends,” Ahmadli, opposition People´s Front Party (PFPA) activist told Meydan TV shortly after he was released on Tuesday.
Ahmadli was freed after completing the his sentence, which he called politically motivated. Arrested in 2016, Ahmadli was accused of stealing the personal data of clients of the mobile operator Azerfon, where he worked at the time.
Although he does not have a poor health status, Ahmadli said being indoors for more than four years caused serious visual problems and he will need to undergo a medical examination.
He also said that he had not been exposed to any torture in jail. “However, the prisoners who were in close communication with us [opposition activists] were treated poorly,” he added, calling it another manipulation tool of the government.
Ahmadli said his arrest aimed to target the PPFA and the party chairman Ali Karimli and was an attack on opposition forces in the country. “Back then, my arrest saved others. However, later the developments showed that the repression machine was not far from anyone.”
President Ilham Aliyev and his government is harshly criticized by local and international rights defenders for the crackdown on and convictions of opposition activists, journalists and civil society advocates convicting on fabriacted charges.
“I promise our struggle will continue until the release of the last political prisoner.”