Azernews.Az

BAKU – President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday enacted a decree to pardon 90 prisoners, including a controversial newspaper editor whose case has long been watched by international groups.

Eynulla Fatullayev, the editor-in-chief of the Russian-language weekly Realny Azerbaijan and Azerbaijani-language daily Gundalik Azerbaijan, was sentenced in 2007 to eight-and-a-half years in prison on charges on inciting ethnic hatred, instigation of terror and tax evasion.

He claims the charges were related to his articles he had written critical of the authorities.

After the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2010 that Fatullayev should be released and paid compensation, a Baku court annulled initial charges of terrorism and tax evasion but handed down a new two-and-a-half year sentence on drug possession charges.

Fatullayev told the press after being released from prison that he was still struggling "to realize what is going on".

"What happened to me is marvelous," he said. "I have yet to fathom this, I don’t know what’s going on."

Fatullayev said he had applied to President Ilham Aliyev for a pardon two months ago and "the reaction was immediate".

The pardon decree among others affects former deputy mayor of Baku Eldaniz Lahijov and Anar Namazov, the nephew of former health minister Ali Insanov.