Defenders disappointed pardon

Presidential decree on pardoning disappointed defenders who did not wait to solve the problem of political prisoners. "This decree disappointed us. From our list of 30 people , only five have been pardoned," said the head of the Society to Protect Women's Rights Novella Jafaroglu, noting the need to review the cases of former minister Ali Insanov, journalists Hilal Mamedov and Avaz Zeynalli.

According to Jafaroglu, if by the June PACE sesion  the Azerbaijani authorities do not release 30 political prisoners, the Assembly will again criticize Azerbaijan  for 130 political prisoners. Head of Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law Gojamanli Saida noted that the list of the monitoring group of human rights organizations pardoned: journalists Faramaz Allahverdiev, Fuad Huseynov, and  youth activist Dashgin Melikov.

In her view , some political prisoners may be released during the appellate courts. In particular, Ilgar Mamedov, Tofig Yagublu, Yadigar Sadigov  and eight  activists of NIDA. It is impossible to solve the problem of political prisoners. The problem will be solved when people cease to pursue politically motivated, said the head of the Company's Legal Defense and Education Rasul Jafarov. This view was shared by the director of the Institute for Peace and Democracy Leyla Yunus. She is skeptical about the plan of action between the CE and Azerbaijan 2014-2016. In this document there are a lot of nice words, but there is no independent judiciary.

The way out of the situatio is that citizens of Azerbaijan themselves demand the  law and democracy. "No international organization will help us, if we do not demand our rights, we will live slavishly, as we lived before," said Yunus. -06C-