Your trusted source

International human rights organization Amnesty International issued a statement in which it called on the Azerbaijani authorities to immediately investigate the incident and to ensure the safety of Leyla Yunus, provide her with necessary medical treatment, and free her and husband without any preconditions. This is stated in the statement of the Amnesty International, posted on the organization's website.

As noted in the article Azerbaijani human rights defender Leyla Yunus was beaten in the Kurdakhany detention facility by the administration staff on 23 September. In last few days there was no hot water in Leyla Yunus’s cell, and she had to take cold showers. As a result, she caught a severe cold, and had a high fever. In spite of this, she had not been provided with any medical care.

On September 24, Yunus' lawyers reported that her cell was searched, the officers tried to find some of her records. After the search, the Administration announced about the punishment - month ban on talking on the phone with her friends. Due to the high temperature, she was not able to meet with her lawyers on Monday and Tuesday. Leyla Yunus also informed the lawyers that on Tuesday night a detention centre warden twisted Leyla Yunus’s hands and forced her to leave her cell for the next empty room where she was thrown on the floor and the warden began pulling her hair. At the same time, he yelled at her, saying: "Well, you're not smarter?" Then he began to beat her kidneys. He yelled at Leyla Yunus: “Well, you do not want to grow wiser?” after which, the warden started hitting her in the kidneys.

Human rights activist Yunus was arrested on July 30 in the courtyard of his house. She was charged with treason, tax evasion, illegal business, forgery and fraud on a large scale. Her husband Arif Yunusov is also accused of treason and fraud on a large scale. On the basis of these allegations the court arrested Yunus for three months.