Afiaddin Mammadov: We Must Continue the Struggle in Prison

Afiaddin Mammadov

From Afiaddin Mammadov’s interview with Ulviyya Ali: You fight, but sometimes you see that the goals of the people you think are on the same path as you are completely different

Journalist Ulviyya Ali, from the “Meydan TV case”, spoke with Afiaddin Mammadov. He is the chairman of the Workers' Table labor union federation and a social activist currently held in Penitentiary Institution No. 2.

I Wasn't Fighting for This...

Afiaddin Mammadov stated that prison showed him that people he believed shared his goals really had very different ones:

You arrive expecting one thing, but find another. The state of political prisoners is awful. You fight, but see that others you thought were allies have separate agendas. These realities are hidden outside, but become clear here. Many things stay secret. People sometimes say, 'Don't say that, it hurts the cause,' and so on. But when you're with a small group, everyone watches you. Then you see people's true colors. You can also get lost in the fog of your own fight. I didn't fight for this; my fight had a different purpose. My words and actions align. A close friend used to say, 'He's fighting, and I'm fighting. But his goals differ from yours.'

He adds that one could see these negative things outside of prison, but they have a stronger effect in prison.

You want unity, but its absence makes you pessimistic.

Prisoners' Problems

Afiaddin Mammadov noted that lack of medical access is a serious problem:

Everyone has ailments, but nobody cares. There is a lack of doctors; they don't want to work due to low pay. Workers are paid little and work long hours. Sick prisoners are thus treated poorly; they get no attention. This makes things worse and spreads sickness. When one person catches the flu, the whole block gets sick. That's why no one gets better. Everyone needs to be healthy so you can be healthy too, because you live in a diseased place. When I first got here, I was very sick. But when summer came, the colds stopped, and everyone got better.

He notes lack of information as another problem:

Here, information comes late or never arrives, stressing people.

I Have Repeatedly Applied to Be Transferred to a Medical Facility

Regarding his health, Afiaddin Mammadov says his condition remains bad:

The stress and lack of privacy break a person down. You can't even focus on a book. My nose was broken during my detention and I still have a hard time breathing. My kidneys hurt when the weather gets colder. I have asked multiple times to be moved to a medical clinic, but there's no response.

Reason for His Arrest

The activist believes he was arrested for speaking out about workers' rights and public issues:

I say what I believe. That's why I was arrested. I wondered if there was something wrong with our ideas because others were not making demands. But I did not think it was right to demand something only for myself. If I only gained something for myself, my fight would have no worth. But when I read Mandela's book Long Walk to Freedom, I saw he had similar ideas. He said that political prisoners should improve the prison where they are held. We must keep fighting with new demands here. Of course, the demands are different. But if you are a fighter, the fight must continue in every way in different places. Actually, the fight never ends, wherever you are.

Afiaddin Mammadov was arrested on September 20, 2023. He was charged under Articles 126.2.4 (harm to health with hooliganism), 221.3 (hooliganism with a weapon), and 228.4 (illegal possession of a weapon) of the Criminal Code. On January 14, he was sentenced to 8 years in prison.

The “Workers’ Table” labor union federation, led by him, began on March 1, 2022, to protect the rights of workers in Azerbaijan.

Afiaddin Mammadov took part in protests for workers’ rights. He was arrested several times for his actions on charges of hooliganism and disobeying police.

They questioned me in jail. They said, 'You say you defend workers' rights, but we don't see you only doing that.'