Azerbaijan: rights defenders criticize idea of amnesty by Victory Day

On November 5, the National Assembly (Parliament) of Azerbaijan will consider a bill on amnesty timed to the Victory Day in the 2020 autumn war, marked on November 8. The amnesty will cover more than 15,000 people, but will not cover political prisoners, human rights defenders have noted.

The parliament secretariat has explained that the amnesty will affect the participants in the military operations aimed to protect the Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, as well as relatives of those killed or missing. The amnesty does not apply to those convicted of grave and especially grave crimes.

The amnesty is positive from the point of view of humanism, but fails to solve the problem of political prisoners, said Tezekhan Miralamli, a member of the NGO "Defence Line".

"In our country, political prisoners, as a rule, are convicted of grave or especially grave crimes. We mean fabricated charges related to dealing in drugs and weapons, using violence against state officials, financing terrorism, and anti-state appeals. Due to the above 'exceptions', Salekh Rustamov, a veteran of the first Karabakh war and a political prisoner, will not be released ... Asif Yusifli, another war veteran, will not be released from conditional imprisonment, since the articles under which he was convicted – "destruction of someone's property", "resistance to the police" are also in the 'exceptions' (that is regarded as grave and especially grave crimes)," Mr Miralamli has stated.

According to his version, "out of more than 100 political prisoners, the amnesty may cover Alizamin Salaev, a member of the Popular Front Party of Azerbaijan (PFPA)."

Elshan Gasanov, the head of the Centre for Monitoring Political Prisoners, believes that this amnesty should have covered the critics of the authorities.