Epress.am News from Armenia
One of two jailed bloggers whose case has sparked an international outcry has been released early in Azerbaijan, reports RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani Service.
Baku’s Court of Appeal has ruled that Adnan Hajizade should be freed after serving half his 2-year sentence on charges of hooliganism. Another blogger, Emin Milli, remains in prison serving a 2.5-year term.
The two were sentenced in November 2009 after being arrested in a scuffle at a restaurant in July 2009.
Hajizade had petitioned for early release on the grounds that he had already served more than half his sentence.
The court conditionally released him from the remaining seven months and one day of his term.
A conditional release is similar to a period of parole, in which a former prisoner must not have any problems with the law-enforcement agencies.
Hajizade’s lawyer, Elton Guliyev, told APA that the court of first instance had turned down their initial application for early release, hence the appeal. “We applied to Garadag District court for early release. However, we appealed against the court’s failure to uphold the application. Today the court upheld the appeal,” reports News.az.
Media freedom groups and foreign officials had raised concerns about the jailing of the bloggers, who were arrested after satirizing the government with an internet video that showed a donkey giving a press conference.
In his first comments after being freed, Hajizade told RFE/RL he was “not a criminal” and called for the release of his colleague.
Photo: RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service (Azadliq)