PACE rapporteurs welcome Aliyev’s pardon decree
The rapporteurs for the monitoring of Azerbaijan by the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday
welcomed the December 25 decision by President Ilham Aliyev to
pardon 99 prisoners.
The statement was issued by the co-rapporteurs - Andres Herkel of Estonia and Joseph Debono Grech of Malta – as well as Christoph Strasser of Germany, rapporteur on the follow-up to the issue of so-called political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Some of these prisoners are on the lists of alleged political prisoners of local human rights NGOs. The pardoning decree also includes opposition Bizim Yol newspaper correspondent Mushfig Huseynov, who has been mentioned in PACE reports.
"The Assembly has stressed many times that there can be no political prisoners in Council of Europe member states," the rapporteurs said. They trust that Azerbaijan will further progress in fulfilling a key commitment taken when joining the Council of Europe, the PACE said in a statement.
Azerbaijani officials and many local observers have repeatedly said there are no political prisoners in the country.
The presidential decree included 89 persons sentenced to imprisonment, three persons sentenced to limited freedom, and six people who were imposed fines. Nine foreign citizens are among those pardoned.
So far, thousands of people have been released under President Aliyev’s pardoning decrees.*
The statement was issued by the co-rapporteurs - Andres Herkel of Estonia and Joseph Debono Grech of Malta – as well as Christoph Strasser of Germany, rapporteur on the follow-up to the issue of so-called political prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Some of these prisoners are on the lists of alleged political prisoners of local human rights NGOs. The pardoning decree also includes opposition Bizim Yol newspaper correspondent Mushfig Huseynov, who has been mentioned in PACE reports.
"The Assembly has stressed many times that there can be no political prisoners in Council of Europe member states," the rapporteurs said. They trust that Azerbaijan will further progress in fulfilling a key commitment taken when joining the Council of Europe, the PACE said in a statement.
Azerbaijani officials and many local observers have repeatedly said there are no political prisoners in the country.
The presidential decree included 89 persons sentenced to imprisonment, three persons sentenced to limited freedom, and six people who were imposed fines. Nine foreign citizens are among those pardoned.
So far, thousands of people have been released under President Aliyev’s pardoning decrees.*
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