BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — An Azerbaijani newspaper editor has launched a hunger strike to protest the official defiance of a European court's ruling urging his release.
Eynulla Fatullayev’s lawyer Elchin Sadygov said Tuesday the journalist is demanding that authorities honor April’s ruling by the European Court of Human Rights.
Fatullayev is serving an 8 1/2-year sentence after writing an article saying the ex-Soviet nation could support a U.S. attack on neighboring Iran. He was found guilty of making a terrorist threat, inciting ethnic conflict and tax evasion. In July he was also sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison on separate drug possession charges he called fabricated.
Azerbaijan has faced persistent criticism from international rights groups for its heavy-handed treatment of independent media and opposition parties.
