Talish separatist leader granted pardon

Ilkham Aliyev issued two decrees on September 3. By one of them he granted a pardon to Alikram Gumbatov, the leader of the self-proclaimed Talish-Mugan Republic who led a revolt in the south of Azerbaijan and was sentenced to life imprisonment then. By the other decree the President revoked Gumbatov's Azerbaijan citizenship. Gumbatov was listed by the Council of Europe among political prisoners.

Altogether Ilkham Aliyev's decree touched 266 convicts. 264 of them were released from custody, prison terms of the other two were reduced by a half. This pardon decree is already the forth one signed by President Aliyev since he assumed office in October 2003.

Human rights activist Rena Sadaddinova thinks only 15 out of 266 pardoned people are political prisoners, 6 of them being in the list of 88 political prisoners made by the Council of Europe.

"Political persecution in the form of the revocation of political prisoner Alikram Gumbatov's citizenship and his expulsion causes worry. Judging from the fact that the life termer was granted a pardon right after the revocation of his citizenship, it was a prerequisite to his release," stated Eldar Zeynalov, director of the Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan.