PACE President welcomes Presidential order on pardon

Baku. 17 March. REPORT.AZ/ President of PACE Pedro Agramunt has welcomed an order on pardon signed by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev today.

Report informs, the statement of P.Agramunt in this regard says: 'I have received the good news that 148 persons have been released today in Azerbaijan, including Anar Mammadli, winner of the Vaclav Havel Prize, along with political activists, journalists and human rights defenders. Earlier this month I was in Baku for meetings with the President of Azerbaijan, with the Speaker of the Parliament and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs. I was given assurances that there would be major releases in the coming weeks, and I am glad that these assurances have been kept.'

'I will continue to work with the Azeri authorities on the issue of detained persons, and I applaud this major initiative which has brought about the release of these 148 persons.”