The President of Azerbaijan today ordered the pardoning of 220 convicts. None of the 365 people recognized as political prisoners were included in the amnesty list.
Today, Ilham Aliyev signed an order to pardon 220 convicts. According to the document, 175 of them are released from further serving their prison sentences, the remaining part of the imprisonment of 25 prisoners was reduced by half, another person was released from a suspended sentence, and two had their deferred sentences canceled.
In addition, 10 people were released from the punishment of restriction of freedom, the unserved part of this sentence was reduced by half for two more, four were released from correctional labor, and another was released from a fine, the correspondent of the “Caucasian Knot” reported.
The pardon affected 16 foreigners, including five Iranian citizens, four Russian citizens, two Georgian citizens, two Pakistani citizens, an Afghan citizen and a French citizen.
How many people will be pardoned, who exactly and from what types of punishment will be released – is determined personally by Ilham Aliyev, a member of the commission on pardons under the President of Azerbaijan, Alimamed Nuriyev, told the “Caucasian Knot” in 2024.
Among those pardoned, in particular, is the Frenchman Clerc Hugo, who in 2024 sent a petition for pardon to Aliyev. At the same time, the pardon did not affect political prisoners, a representative of the union “For Freedom for Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan” told the “Caucasian Knot” correspondent. For the second year in a row, there is not a single political prisoner on the pardon list
“Unfortunately, for the second year in a row, there is not a single political prisoner on the pardon list. According to the latest lists of the Union for Freedom of Political Prisoners of Azerbaijan, as of mid-May, there are 365 political prisoners in Azerbaijan,” the human rights activist said.
In February 2025, the Union for Freedom of Political Prisoners in Azerbaijan updated the list of 357 Azerbaijani political prisoners, which was replenished with 17 new names.