Amnesty to be announced in Azerbaijan on occasion of Victory Day

Baku/02.11.21/Turan: The Milli Mejlis will consider the draft Amnesty Act on November 5.

The announcement of amnesty on the occasion of the Victory Day in the Patriotic War (the second Karabakh war) celebrated on November 8 was initiated by the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The amnesty will affect persons who took part in the Patriotic War and other military operations to protect the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan's sovereignty, as well as close relatives of those killed or missing during these events.

The act of amnesty will also be extended to persons who became disabled as a result of the Khojaly genocide, close relatives of those killed or missing during these events; persons deported from Armenia in 1948-1953 and 1988-1989; forced migrants expelled from their homes in 1988-1993. as a result of the occupation of a part of the territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia; disabled people on January 20, 1990 or close relatives of those killed in the course of these events.

Amnesty will also be granted to persons who have fulfilled their international duty as part of the USSR Armed Forces or who participated in peacekeeping operations in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as relatives of those killed or missing. The amnesty will also apply to participants in the Second World War, as well as close relatives of those killed and missing in action. Amnesty will also be granted to persons who were subjected to political repression in the former USSR and subsequently acquitted by decisions of the competent authorities, as well as their closest relatives.

The amnesty will apply to the liquidators of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and their guardians. In addition, the amnesty will include: women; persons who were less than 1 to 8 years old at the time of the crime; persons who have reached 60 years of age before the date of entry into force of the amnesty; persons with disabilities of I and II groups; persons in whose care (guardianship) is a minor child or a child of the first or second degree of disability; persons who became disabled as a result of military provocations by Armenia against the civilian population during the Patriotic War or their relative.

The amnesty will also apply to other categories of persons, in particular:

convicted of crimes that do not pose a great public danger; persons serving sentences in a jail-settlement for a period not exceeding 1 year; persons sentenced to imprisonment for  up to three years for a crime committed through negligence; convicted for a less serious crime or convicted for the first time to a criminal punishment, who until the end of the term of punishment remains no more than 6 months before the date of entry of this resolution;

persons sentenced to detention in a disciplinary military unit for crimes that do not pose a great public danger, as well as persons convicted of a less serious or first-time war crime if they have less than 1 year left until the end of their sentence.

The amnesty also covers persons sentenced to restriction of military service; those sentenced to correctional labor; persons sentenced to community service; persons sentenced to deprivation of the right to hold a certain position or engage in certain activities as the main punishment; and other persons sentenced to punishment not associated with imprisonment.

The amnesty will be enforced within 4 months.

The draft Amnesty Act is being discussed today at a meeting of the parliamentary committee on legal policy. Earlier, local media reported that the amnesty will affect 10 thousand people, including 1.5 thousand will be released from places of detention. — 06D-