Azerbaijani president signs pardon decree on eve of spring holiday

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday pardoned over a hundred prisoners, according to state-run news agency AZERTAC.

The pardon decree, effective immediately when signed, encompasses 148 persons including 16 foreign nationals, who were sentenced to different terms in prison.

Under the decree, 137 people, sentenced to imprisonment, were freed from serving the remainder of the prison term. Moreover, six were freed from the remainder of the correctional labor and five were freed from the penalty in the form of a fine.

Pardons were made "after reviewing appeals of a number of prisoners, their family members, the Commissioner for Human Rights, organizations for human rights," the decree reads.

The President took into account the personality, health condition, marital status of prisoners and their behavior while serving their sentence.

Human rights activists, representatives of various political parties and journalists, such as Nemat Panakhli, Yadigar Sadikhov, Tofig Yagublu, Anar Mammadli are among those pardoned by the President on the eve of Novruz, a spring holiday widely celebrated in Azerbaijan every March.

On the same day, Azerbaijani journalist Rauf Mirkadyrov was released in the courtroom after the Baku Court of Appeals has reviewed the decision of the Baku Court of Grave Crimes, which earlier sentenced him to six years in prison.

The Court of Appeals conditionally sentenced Mirkadyrov to five years.

A well-known reporter for the Russian-language newspaper "Zerkalo", Mirkadyrov was detained on April 18 on a charge of high treason.

"This is a very important step for the development of civil society and it will certainly lead to the public reconciliation and dialogue," women's rights campaigner Novella Jafaroglu told local media. Enditem