Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist and newspaper editor who had turned into one of the symbols of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on freedom of expression, walked free today after having spent some four years in jail.
Fatullayev was released along with dozens of other inmates after being pardoned by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
His release was welcomed by many in Azerbaijan and also by international media groups that had for years campaigned on his behalf.
Speaking to RFE/RL less than two hours after being freed, Fatullayev said he believes those efforts played a key role in the government’s decision to set him free.
Fatullayev added that his unexpected freedom felt like “a miracle” that was difficult to understand.
“I’m still trying to [understand] the situation,” he said. “It’s a miracle for me. I couldn’t imagine it. It’s a real surprise for me.”
Fatullayev, editor of the now closed newspaper “Realny Azerbaijan,” was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on charges including tax evasion and instigation of terror.
Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist and newspaper editor who had turned into one of the symbols of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on freedom of expression, walked free today after having spent some four years in jail.
Fatullayev was released along with dozens of other inmates after being pardoned by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.
His release was welcomed by many in Azerbaijan and also by international media groups that had for years campaigned on his behalf.
Speaking to RFE/RL less than two hours after being freed, Fatullayev said he believes those efforts played a key role in the government’s decision to set him free.
Fatullayev added that his unexpected freedom felt like “a miracle” that was difficult to understand.
“I’m still trying to [understand] the situation,” he said. “It’s a miracle for me. I couldn’t imagine it. It’s a real surprise for me.”
Fatullayev, editor of the now closed newspaper “Realny Azerbaijan,” was arrested in 2007 and sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on charges including tax evasion and instigation of terror.
In 2010, the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Fatullayev should be released and paid 25,000 euros in compensation, saying that the government of Azerbaijan had violated his rights to freedom of expression and a fair trial.
Azerbajian’s top court upheld the European court ruling and overturned his conviction. But it left in place a separate two-and-a-half-year jail sentence imposed by a lower court in 2009 for possession of illegal drugs while in prison.
Source: RFE/RL