Azerbaijani First Lady offers amnesty (UPDATE)
By Gulgiz Dadashova
Azerbaijani First Lady, President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, MP Mehriban Aliyeva has lodged an appeal with the parliament over the adoption of an amnesty act.
Chairman of Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building Ali Huseynli said the act, which marks the 90th anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev, is "a vivid evidence of commitment to the national leader`s humane policy".
"Founded by national leader Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan's statehood strategy will for many long years contribute to strengthening the Azerbaijani state, increasing its economic power and ensuring the people's prosperity," Mehriban Aliyeva said in her appeal.
The draft amnesty act will be reviewed by the Azerbaijani Parliament on May 7.
If passed, the bill will see the release of women, who do not pose serious public threat or who committed less grave crimes, under-18 criminals, first and second group disabled people, men under 60, those who have the custody of underage children or disabled children of first and second category, those who contributed to protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, those who were expelled from their homeland as a result of the Armenian occupation of part of Azerbaijan's territory, as well as prisoners belonging to other categories.
The law will also apply to persons whose unserved term of imprisonment is below a year, persons sentenced to corrective and community work, persons who were fined, those whose imprisonment was postponed, and those who were issued a suspended sentence.
Experts say the amnesty act is expected to be applied to 9,000 people, of which 2,000 will be released from prisons.
Initiated by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the parliament of Azerbaijan adopted amnesty acts on May 8, 2007 and March 17, 2009 which applied to 9,877 and 9,564 prisoners respectively. The amnesty acts, which fostered re-integration of criminals into the society, evoked wide public welcome and support.