Human rights defenders draw attention to life-term prisoners

The Union "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan" held public hearings to draw attention to the fates of 14 people serving their life sentences.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 16, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliev pardoned 431 prisoners. Of them, 51 were included in the lists of political prisoners.

On April 26, the Union "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan" organized public hearings on the topic "Freedom to political prisoners, including those serving life sentences". The public hearings were held at the headquarters of the "Classical Popular Front of Azerbaijan" Party.

"The problem of political prisoners is still relevant. Even after the March pardon, despite the release of more than 50 political prisoners, there are still 87 people on our lists," reported during the public hearings human rights defender Elshan Gasanov, a coordinator of the Union "For the Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan" (hereinafter translated from Azerbaijani language by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent).

Special attention should be paid to the fates of 14 people from the list of people serving their life sentences who are being kept in prisons for almost 25 years, Elshan Gasanov reports.

The human rights defenders believe that 14 people mentioned above were wrongfully sentenced to life imprisonment. The Union demanded to immediately release them along with other political prisoners.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 27, 2019 at 06:12 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.