Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend S.Ilhamgizi / A regional correspondent of the Yeni Musavat newspaper for the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Hakim Mehdiyev, who was arrested last week was released, the newspaper's Editor-in-Chief, Rauf Arifoglu, said on 27 September.
Mehdiyev was detained for fifteen days in administrative form on 23 September in Nakhchivan. The journalist was accused of resisting police. According to Arifoglu, the arrest was a result of a critical statement made by Mehdiyev on radio against the Chairman of Nakhchivan's Supreme Assembly, Vasif Talibov.
Arifoglu confirms that the journalist endured torture while in the detention isolation cell. He said that today Mehdiyev was told that the police forgave him. Afterwards the journalist was released. Arifoglu said that an appeal will be made on the judgment of the court of Nakhchivan's Sharur district. According to him, the newspaper plans to organize an examination to prove that Mehdiyev had endured torture. "We intend to make a complaint to the European Court on Human Rights," Arifoglu said.