Pressure is Being Applied to Fazil Gasimov to End His Hunger Strike

Fazil Gasimov, an economist who has been on a hunger strike for 107 days while in detention, is facing pressure to end his protest,  Gasimov’s relatives said.

“I am being pressured to eat. They are even forcing my cellmate to testify that I am allegedly eating. However, Allah is my witness that I have been on hunger strike for 107 days. Besides a mixture of water and honey, I take nothing. I started taking honey after my lawyer, Rovshan Rahimov, found out that the law allows hunger-striking prisoners to mix honey with water,” Gasimov’s relative recounted from a phone call with him on September 28. Family members have again urged him to end the hunger strike, but he remains steadfast.

Moreover, Gasimov told his relatives that despite the life-threatening nature of his hunger strike, he does not intend to commit suicide. “Fazil said that if something happens to him, know that it is not suicide,” his relative conveyed.

No comment could be obtained from the Penitentiary Service.

*Fazil Gasimov, who is being held in the medical unit of Baku’s Detention Center No. 1, was transferred on July 26 to a rehabilitation facility of the Penitentiary Service due to a sharp deterioration in his health from the hunger strike.

He was arrested in Istanbul on August 8, 2023, and brought to Azerbaijan. He has been accused of producing counterfeit money along with well-known economist and government critic Gubad Ibadoglu. However, Gasimov’s case is currently being processed separately from Ibadoglu’s case.