{"id":174485,"date":"2016-03-18T18:50:29","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/article\/azerbaijan-partly-opens-its-prison-doors-for-spring\/"},"modified":"2021-10-29T12:56:26","modified_gmt":"2021-10-29T08:56:26","slug":"azerbaijan-partly-opens-its-prison-doors-for-spring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/en\/article\/azerbaijan-partly-opens-its-prison-doors-for-spring\/","title":{"rendered":"Azerbaijan Partly Opens Its Prison Doors for Spring"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/az\/ilham-eliyev-7\/\" alt=\"\u0130lham \u018fliyev\" class=\"wp-image-51978\"\/><figcaption>\n    \u0130lham \u018fliyev<br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n  <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meydan.tv\/az\/ilham-eliyev-7\/\" alt=\"\u0130lham \u018fliyev\" class=\"wp-image-51978\"\/><figcaption>\n    \u0130lham \u018fliyev<br \/>\n  <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\n  In a sudden display of lenience, Azerbaijan\u2019s strong-armed leader, President Ilham Aliyev,<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/ru.apa.az\/news\/312472\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    pardoned 137 inmates<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , including his<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.radioazadlyg.org\/content\/article\/27618971.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    critics<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , in one fell swoop on March 17.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Lawyer and rights defender<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-azerbaijan-rights-idUSKBN0G500B20140805\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    Rasul Jafarov,<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  prominent democracy advocate<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2014\/oct\/01\/vaclav-havel-human-rights-azerbaijan-anar-mammadli%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    Anar Mammadli<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , several members of the youth movement NIDA and opposition party Musavat are among the prisoners to be freed under the amnesty. International civil liberty watchdogs have long insisted these individuals were persecuted in retribution for their criticism of the government and had pressed for their release.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Earlier on the same day, an Appeals Courts in Baku ordered the release of a controversially arrested journalist,<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eurasianet.org\/node\/68297\"><br \/>\n    Rauf Mirkadirov<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  . The Appeals Court overturned Mirkadirov\u2019s six-year sentence on charges for spying for Armenia, Azerbaijan neighbor and enemy. Amidst protests from international human-rights advocates, Mirkadirov spent two years in prison.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Late last year, a well-known peace and democracy activist,<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2015\/dec\/10\/azerbaijan-leyla-yunus-release\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    Leyla Yunus<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , who, like Mirkadirov, was engaged in civil diplomacy activism with Armenia, was freed from prison because of poor health. Her husband was also freed, but she was not cleared of charges that included spying for Armenia, an accusation seen as preposterous by civil-rights watchdogs.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  There are still plenty of dissidents in Azerbaijan\u2019s prisons, including the nation\u2019s best known journalist,<br \/>\n  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eurasianet.org\/node\/74881\"><br \/>\n    Khadija Ismayilova<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  . The government, however, maintains that it has not imprisoned anyone for political reasons.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  Aliyev did not elaborate about what motivated his mellowing toward the government\u2019s jailed critics, but pro-government news sites attributed it to the eight-day-long state holiday of<br \/>\n  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-x_pNCuBJ98\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n    Novruz<br \/>\n  <\/a><br \/>\n  , the Zorastrian New Year and start of spring, which kicks off on March 20. Prisoner amnesties usually precede the holiday, the most notable in Azerbaijan\u2019s calendar.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n  <i><br \/>\n    <b><br \/>\n      Originally published by<br \/>\n      <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eurasianet.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\n        EurasiaNet.org<br \/>\n      <\/a><br \/>\n    <\/b><br \/>\n  <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a sudden display of lenience, Azerbaijan\u2019s strong-armed leader, President Ilham Aliyev, pardoned 137 inmates, including his critics, in one fell swoop on March 17.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":51978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - 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