15 June 2016, 14:23
Azerbaijan starts enforcing Amnesty Act
On the first day of enforcing the Amnesty Act, 350 persons will be released, said Alimamed Nuriev, a member of the Public Oversight Committee (POC) and the head of the Research Fund "Constitution". However, according to rights defenders, the amnesty has not covered political prisoners.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 20 the National Assembly of Azerbaijan adopted the Amnesty Act, dated to the Republic's Day, celebrated on May 28. The amnesty will cover more than 10,000 people, including 3500 released from jails.
The events related to prisoners' release will be attended by members of the POC for monitoring jails under the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Azerbaijan.
As noted by Mr Nuriev, the enforcement of the Amnesty Act would take four months.
Ogtay Gyulalyev, the head of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners", treats the amnesty as a positive phenomenon, noting, however, that it will not cover the 80 country's political prisoners.
Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.
Author: Faik Medzhid Source: CK correspondent
