Guseinov: President's pardon is no solution to the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan

Any act of pardon or amnesty should be welcomed from the viewpoint of humanism; however, the today's President's pardon has not solved the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan. This was stated by Emin Guseinov, Director of the Institute of Reporters' Freedom and Safety (IRFS), in his comments on the order of the head of Azerbaijan.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, he has emphasized that persistent appeals of the international community to release bloggers Emin Milli and Adnan Gadjizade and journalists Einullah Fatullaev and Ganimat Zakhidov, who were recognized by the Amnesty International to be prisoners of conscience, remained unheard.

Let us remind you that tonight President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev has signed an order to pardon 99 persons. It is stated in the preamble of the document that the President made his decision "in response to applications of prisoners and members of their families, with account of prisoners' personalities, state of health and behaviour in the course of serving their terms; and based on the principles of humanism."

According to the order, 89 prisoners are released from further serving their terms in custody. Three persons are released from further serving their punishments in the form of restriction of freedom. 6 persons are released from paying fines. One prisoner has his remaining term halved.

From among well-known political prisoners, the pardon list comprises Mushvig Guseinov, journalist of the "Bizim Yol" (Our Way) newspaper, who suffers from heavy tuberculosis.