Sevinj Vagifgizi, the imprisoned editor-in-chief of Abzas Media, says authorities at Baku Pretrial Detention Centre have refused to allow a fan delivered by her family into her cell for several weeks.

According to her family, Vagifgizi was told by Deputy Warden Ahad Abdiyev that the decision was made without explanation.

“Last year, we felt like letting it in. This year, we don’t,” he reportedly said. Abdiyev allegedly added that “your heart seems to desire illegal things lately” and insisted that denying the fan was “a matter of principle.”

“I asked, what kind of principle is this? Why should a warden insist on taking a stand against a prisoner?” Vagifgizi told her family.

Vagifgizi said the deputy warden offered to provide a fan at the prison’s own expense, but she declined.

“I don’t want anything from them. My family brought the fan. It’s not on the prohibited items list, and they have no right to refuse it.”

“They’ve made my family wait under the sun three times over the past six weeks, only to reject the fan again and again. They have no authority to do that,” she added.

Vagifgizi says she believes the offer of a fan only for her - when no other women in the prison have been given one, is discriminatory.

“There are 153 women here. None have received fans this summer. Why should I be the only one? This is state money, not someone’s personal fund. If fans are to be given, they should be given to everyone not just me. I’ll accept one when every woman here receives one.”

She emphasized that she stands against preferential treatment and wants equal conditions for all inmates.

The Penitentiary Service and the Ombudsman’s Office have not responded to requests for comment.