06 January 2004, 18:53
Former Azerbaijan political prisoner died
According to the report by the Moscow association of Talish culture "Avesta", Alyasaf Makhmudov, a former political prisoner, follower of Alyakram Gummatov, died in Moscow on December 31, just six months after he had been granted a pardon on July 17, 2003 and had been discharged. He was arrested in 1997 and sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment for his assistance in Gummatov's escape from an investigatory isolation ward of the State Security Ministry.
This case is already the second one when Gummatov's followers who were pardoned die suddenly. Nadir Bagirov, who were pardoned on February 11, 2003, after almost 10 years of imprisonment, died on September 2, 2003 from tuberculosis he had been infected with in prison.
Four more Bagirov's companions-in-arms: Rafaddin Aliyev, Ilkham Asadullayev, Naib Mamedov, and Azim Nasirov died in prison. Today 17 pardoned followers of Gummatov are free, and three men (including Gummatov himself) are imprisoned.
Altogether there are no less than 288 political prisoners in the country, according to the data by the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan and the Federation of Human Rights Organizations.
Source: Prima News Agency
