{"id":174159,"date":"2016-03-04T08:41:44","date_gmt":"2016-03-04T08:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/one-familys-tragedy-the-yagublus\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:55:58","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T08:55:58","slug":"one-familys-tragedy-the-yagublus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/one-familys-tragedy-the-yagublus\/","title":{"rendered":"One family\u2019s tragedy: the Yagublus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n A trip in desolate landscape
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\n Every week, she ploughs through dust-covered roads flanked by stone quarries just to see her father. The dust gets so thick and heavy that it completely clouds her vision. The road is bumpy and eerily empty, and if you get stuck in this desolate landscape, no one will come to rescue you.\n<\/p>\n

\n The arduous trip takes Nigar Yagublu from the Surakhani settlement in Baku, located on the southeastern edge of the Absheron Peninsula, to the Justice Ministry\u2019s Penitentiary Service facility #13 where her father Tofig has been incarcerated since January 2013.
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\n Human rights groups
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\n describe Tofig Yagublu as a political prisoner, and charges against him are widely viewed as fabricated.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe get excited when it rains as the dust settles down. However, it gets so muddy around here, you can\u2019t even imagine. Even the inside of the prison gets muddy all over. Therefore, prisoners have to wear rubber boots at all times,\u201d Nigar tells Meydan TV. \u201cImagine all those prisoners who have lived in those conditions for years. Those with asthma suffer the most. They cannot live in such conditions.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The Yagublus are a well-known family of rights defenders and activists of the Azerbaijani opposition party Musavat. Civic participation runs deep in the family. Tofig Yagublu is the deputy chairman of the opposition Musavat party. The family of vocal opponents of repression actively participated in a number of pro-democracy rallies, for which they paid a heavy price. They rallied for basic political freedoms and accountability.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAll we demand is freedom of assembly, which is practically non-existent at the moment,\u201d Tofig Yagublu once said. \u201cWe demand free elections, an end to corruption and pressure on journalists and reporters. That is all we\u2019re asking for.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n For a long time, Tofig\u2019s two daughters, Nigar and Nargiz were lost in their father\u2019s shadow, which is not uncommon in the male-dominated society of Azerbaijan. Nigar and Nargiz\u2019s activist work dates back to 2009 when they were both in their early twenties.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cFive years ago when they said the Yagublu family, they meant my father only. Nigar and Nargiz Yagublu were in the background,\u201d Nigar recollects.\n<\/p>\n

\n But they were determined to make names for themselves, while following in their famous father\u2019s footsteps and learning the makeshift rules of street activism. Nigar recollects the familiar pull of streets protests, a deep-seated desire to make one\u2019s voice heard.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cWe both always tried with Nargiz. We used to attend protests that our father participated in. We both tried not to be in the same place as our father,\u201d Nigar shares. \u201cTherefore, we were always trying to stick together. For instance, I was always with Nargiz, and our father was away surrounded with like-minded people.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThen we would come back home and watch the footages. My father would praise us for courage. Nargiz got the most of it though,\u201d she says.\n<\/p>\n

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