E/CN.4/2001/66/Add.1 page 14 49. On 15 May, the Special Rapporteur visited Shuvelan SIzo. The official capacity is 1,050 and 857 persons were detained at the time of the visit. Nobody was held in the quarantine cells. It was explained that the medical check-up and other initial formalities lasted only for a couple of hours. Within a day, a person was taken to a normal cell. Nobody was currently held in the punishment cells which, according to the punishment book, had only been used three times since the beginning of the year. The Special Rapporteur nevertheless noted that they were rather rudimentary and gave out a bad odour. The punishment book also recorded that some 10 people had been reprimanded since the beginning of the year for having violated internal rules. 2. Individual case 50. Natig Efendyiev, the former head of the Ganja City Police Department who is said to have resigned from his position in protest against the current Government, reportedly left the country on 10 January 1998 because of threats he and his family had allegedly received. On 10 January 2000, he was reportedly arrested in Samsun, Turkey, by a special unit of the Turkish law enforcement. He was told that the Turkish military intelligence services wanted to speak with him. The same day, he is said to have been transferred to Ankara where he reportedly criticized the current Government of Azerbaijan. Hooded, he was allegedly taken secretly in a private plane to Baku where he was immediately transferred to the detention centre of the Ministry of National Security. During his first interrogation session, he was reportedly offered a lawyer, but was forced to refuse him. During the first 10 days of his detention, he is reported to have been interrogated every night by two investigators who did not give their names. At some point, he is alleged to have signed a document he was given by his interrogators. He also reportedly refused to make a statement on television. At the end of this initial period of interrogation, he was given access to his own private lawyer and was then reportedly interrogated by investigators from the Ministry of National Security. His family is said to have been informed of his detention 15 days after his arrest and his wife was allowed access around 20 April. He is reportedly charged with an attempted coup d’état and illegal possession of firearms. D. Information concerning prisons 1. General information 51. Since 1993 prisons have been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice. According to the Minister of Justice, Azerbaijan was the first CIS country to have transferred the administration of the penitentiary system to the Ministry of Justice. 52. The Chairperson of the Supreme Court and former Minister of Justice told the Special Rapporteur that the penitentiary system had been opened to public scrutiny. The Deputy Minister of Justice and head of the department on the implementation of court decisions confirmed that for the last three years, the penitentiary system had been opened to public inspection, including by the media and NGOs. NGOs confirmed that the penitentiary system had been opened to them, but stressed that they were prevented from having confidential interviews with detainees, which weakened the whole exercise.