Azeri journalist Eynullah Fatullayev, who has been serving a variety of prison sentences since April of 2007, was given his freedom today in one of President Aliyev’s amnesties. As readers of this blog are aware, the charges against Fatullayev had ranged from libel to inciting terror to tax evasion – and more recently, to drug possession.
His release comes after a long campaign by human rights organizations lobbying on his behalf, although I doubt that such efforts have any impact whatsoever on the President’s thinking. However, I would expect that we will see more amnesties prior to next year’s Eurovision song contest, due to be held in Baku now that Azerbaijan has won this year’s competition.
Last week saw the conviction of Bakhtiyar Hajiyev on charges of evading military service. Hajiyev was sentenced to two years, and had argued in court that he was exempt due to his impending PhD studies in Tbilisi, and that the case against him was selective and motivated solely by his pro-democracy activities.