Public Committee Grants Legal Aid to 1,600 Convicted

The Public Committee under the Ministry of Justice since 2006, with the participation of representatives of NGOs has made 170 visits to prisons, to provide advice and legal assistance to more than 1,600 prisoners. This was announced by the coordinator of the Public Committee, MP Chingiz Ganizadeh today, reporting the event in the International Press Center.

Members of the public committee are also involved in the work of commissions for parole of the reformed convicts. About 2,900 convicted were released on parole or were transferred to institutions with a softer regime, Ganizadeh said.

At the same time, he pointed out that prisoners often complain of unfair investigation and sentences. "The Public Committee, however, has no authority to impact on these issues," said Ganizadeh.

At the same time, the head of the Council for Support to NGOs, MP Azay Guliyev pointed to the possibility of appeal against unfair investigation.

The Head of the Ministry of Justice Department for Human Rights Faig Gurbanov noted the important role of this structure in the implementation of social control.

He stressed that if initially the Public Committee did only monitoring of prison conditions, later it was also involved in issues of mitigation of punishment.

During the meeting the sides exchanged views on further improvement of the Public Committee of the Ministry of Justice and its interaction with other entities with the participation of representatives of NGOs. -06C--