According to the Human Rights Centre of Azerbaijan (HRCA), one of the oldest lifelong prisoners, Arif Zeynaddin Oglu Mahmudov, born in 1936, died of a heart attack in a medical institution of the Ministry of Justice (Central Prison Hospital) on February 17. He was sentenced to death in 1996, and after the abolition of the death penalty in February 1998, this penalty was replaced by life imprisonment.
The Azerbaijani legislation provides for the possibility of parole after serving 25 years of life imprisonment. But taking into account the average life expectancy in Azerbaijan, which is not more than 72 years, the authorized period means a death sentence for those who have been convicted in their old age. Even after the abolition of the death penalty, 47 of the 128 people formerly sentenced to death died, and many of them were younger than Mahmudov. To date, only two people formerly sentenced to death managed to spend 25 years in prison.
HRCA calls to reconsider the provisions of Article 57.3 of the Criminal Code and to make flexible the authorized period as envisaged by Resolution № R (76) 2 of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers with respect to the treatment of prisoners on long sentences. This period, giving the detainee a realistic chance of release in the case of correction could be part of the sentence and could be assigned by the judge when sentencing somebody to life imprisonment. -0--
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The Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan has effectively acknowledged that President Ilham Aliyev’s official aircraft, “Baku-1,” encountered external technical interference while flying to St. Petersburg for the informal summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on December 25. The revelation comes amid growing scrutiny of the incident, including reports of a GPS signal loss over Russian airspace.
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In Yardimly region of Azerbaijan, 20 kg of drugs and psychotropic preparations were found and seized from drug couriers, the regional group of the Interior Ministry's press service reported.
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On 6 February, precipitation in the form of light rain is expected in Baku and Absheron in the first half of the day. Wind is north-west, gusty. At night + 3+5, +6+8 in the afternoon.
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Azerbaijan is set to experience a sharp drop in temperatures, with stormy and snowy conditions expected across the country in the coming days, the National Hydrometeorology Service said on Monday. The forecast warns of intense precipitation in some areas, snowfall in mountainous and foothill regions, icy roads, and strong winds.
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