PACE Co-rapporteur of Democratic Institutions on Azerbaijan Stefan Schennach welcomed the amnesty decree signed by President Ilham Aliyev on March 16 on the occasion of Novruz.
Western European Bureau of Report News Agency informs that he made such a statement at the spring session of the PACE, which began today in Strasbourg.
He highly praised the release of prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Notably, the decree was applied to 431 people, in general. According to the decree, 399 who were sentenced to imprisonment, were released from remaining part of the sentence. In addition, one of the three men sentenced to life imprisonment, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, while 20 years of imprisonment were defined for two. A person who was sentenced to imprisonment and whose sentence was suspended, was released from prison. Moreover, 11 people convicted to conditional imprisonment were released from prison. A person sentenced to imprisonment was released from unserved part of his sentence.