Azerbaijani president pardons ten from the list of political prisoners

Ilham Aliev, the President of Azerbaijan, has signed a decree to pardon 87 prisoners. According to rights defenders, the list includes 10 political prisoners.

The pardon decision was made based on a number of appeals received from the convicts, their families, the Ombudsperson and human rights organizations, with account of convicts' personalities, their marital status and behaviour while serving their sentences, says the preamble of the decree.

The pardon was signed on the eve of the Solidarity Day of Azerbaijanis of the World, celebrated on December 31, and the New Year. Of the 87 pardoned persons, 79 will be released from prison, three – from public works, and five others – from imposed fines.

Novella Jafaroglu, a member of the Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations of Azerbaijan (MGHROA), spoke positively about the pardon decision.

According to the list of the MGHROA, prisons are still keeping about 20 political prisoners, including human rights defenders under investigation Leyla Yunus, Rasul Jafarov, Intigam Aliev and journalist Khadija Ismayilova.

In his turn, Oktay Gyulalyev, the head of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", was disappointed with the pardon decree. According to his story, the authorities have only imitated the solution of the problem of political prisoners.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.