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Next pardon decree expected in March

19 January 2007 13:43 (UTC +04:00)

She said that the number of appeals to the Pardon Commission has increased.
â€œI have considered near 100 appeals and presented them to the Commission. There are no such commissions in democratic countries. The officials there work with the Ministry of Justice and the prisoners are pardoned. Commission holds 2-3 meetings in a year in Azerbaijan. It is very fewâ€?, she said.
She considers that the meetings should be held once a month and the decrees should be more systematical.
â€œWe consider over 500 appeals at the meeting. The appeals wouldnâ€™t be so much if the meetings had been held more constantly and we had considered them more precisely. I have raised this issue several times but no result was achievedâ€?, she noted.
MP said that she will raise an issue on woman prisonersâ€™ pardon at the next meeting. She had received over 50 appeals from them.
â€œIt is possible to pardon some woman prisoners. But there are those arrested for felonies, deliberate murders, hooliganism and drug-related offenses among them. I consider, the punishment of women should be commuted and the reforms on the issue should be carried out in penitentiary system. The Council of Europe is not satisfied with womenâ€™s detention conditions in Azerbaijan. The CE has required Azerbaijan to detain women in wards. It is also required to abolish lager jails. There are tuberculosis and mentally ill persons among woman prisoners. It is wrong to keep them in the same place. Other CE requirement concerns the application of alternative punishment for womenâ€?, she said. /APA/