Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. K.Zarbaliyeva / Rashid Hajili, the lawyer of Rovshan Kabirli, the Editor-in-Chief of the Mukhalifat newspaper, stated on 1 June that Kabirli, who is in prison, began a hunger strike.
Hajili stressed that Yashar Agazadeh, the employee of the newspaper, still continues the strike he began on 29 May. The health of Agazadeh became worse and he has been under medical treatment.
During the strike Agazadeh is not receiving medical treatment. The two men are striking in protest of journalists facing pressure regarding their freedom of speech and the illegal arrests of media representatives.
The Lawyer noted that his clients were not satisfied by the prison's conditions.
Kabirli and Agazadeh were sentenced as guilty in compliance with Article 147.2 (slander in grave crime) of the Criminal Code and their verdicts were two years and six months imprisonment by the Yasamal District Court, as a result of the lawsuit brought forward by MP Jalal Aliyev.
The journalists lodged a complaint regarding the sentencing of the Court.