NOVRUZALI  MAMEDOV

News Organization: TOLYSHI SADO

Died: 2009

Location: AZERBAIJAN

Mamedov, a newspaper editor, died in prison while serving a 10-year sentence for what many considered to be trumped-up charges of treason and incitement of ethnic hatred. A local free press organization contends that the editor's health worsened in prison and that he was denied medical attention until he was near death, even when it was requested by the Council of Europe representative to Azerbaijan. Mamedov was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 10 years after a closed-door trial. His newspaper folded when he was jailed. Mamedov was 68.