Over 300 prisoners presented for pardoning in Azerbaijan

On the eve of the Novruz Bayram holiday, the Azerbaijani Pardons Commission under the President of the country has reviewed about 400 applications. Positive decisions have been made in over 300 of them, and will be submitted to the President.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 26, the human rights organization "Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners" presented to the Commission an updated list of 93 political prisoners with the view of their release. The update of the list has to do with the expected traditional pardon on the occasion of the spring holiday Novruz Bayram.

Rashad Majid, the deputy chairman of the Union of Writers of Azerbaijan and the editor-in-chief of the "525th Newspaper", who is one of the new members of the above Commission, said that over 400 appeals for clemency have been considered since early March.

With regard to the date of the pardon act, and the total number of convicts, who fall under this act, these issues are within the exclusive competence of President Ilham Aliev, Mr Majid has stressed.

Rafiga Isaeva, the mother of the journalist Rauf Mirkadirov, convicted for treason, hopes that his son will be released.

In her turn, Gadjar Panakhly, the wife of Nemat Panakhly, the leader of the Azerbaijan National Statehood Party, sentenced to 6 years in prison, has stressed that she does not believe that her husband will be pardoned.

Gabil Guseynli, a political analyst, has treated the release of a large group of political prisoners on the eve of Novruz Bayram as quite realistic.

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