Pardon does not solve the problem of political prisoners

Baku / 25.05.18 / Turan: Yesterday's pardon did not solve the problem of political prisoners in Azerbaijan, human rights activists believe.

"The pardon act, issued on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijani People's Republic, did not justify the hopes. Of more than 160 political prisoners, only 12 people have been released," Head of the Monitoring Center for Political Prisoners Elshan Hasanov told Turan. Pardon did not apply to those serving life sentences in Gobustan prison for more than 20 years of former officers.

Despite the fact that at the time of their conviction there was no punishment in the form of life imprisonment, they were subjected to this. Then the alternative death penalty was imprisonment for 15 years. Ilgar Mammadov, the chairman of the REAL party, was not released, despite the fact that there are already two decisions of the European Court of Human Rights that came into force.

In the end, there were journalists, bloggers, members of the "group of Sayid Dadashbeyli", convicted in 2007.

"We, former political prisoners believe that this pardon act does not meet the requirements of democratic principles and the declared reforms in the field of human rights," Hasanov said. In turn, the head of the Public Alliance "Azerbaijan without Political Prisoners" Ogtay Gulaliyev called yesterday's pardon "imitation".

So, out of 12 pardoned political prisoners, the fourth until the end of the sentence remained only 7 days. Another - activist of the Popular Front Party is seriously ill. Another political prisoner, Elshad Rzayev, remained several months before the end of the sentence.

According to Gulaliyev, for many months the local and international public was deceived by the promises of the Azerbaijani authorities about the forthcoming "big pardon". According to the activist, pardon practically did not affect political prisoners. "The authorities once again showed that until they have strong pressure, they will not solve the problem of political prisoners," Gulaliyev said. -06D--