News.Az interviews human rights activist Saida Gojamanli.
President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree pardoning 72 prisoners. What is your opinion of this?
I appreciate this step, especially because it was taken before the Novruz holiday. These people will be free, able to return to their families and celebrate this holiday at home.
The list of those pardoned includes the editor-in-chief of Azadlig opposition newspaper, Ganimat Zahid, whose release was petitioned for both by local NGOs and international organizations.
We were especially happy to see Ganimat Zahid’s name on the list. He was pardoned by the president on the basis of the appeal of the Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations. This structure asked the head of state to pardon two editors, the bloggers and sick prisoners before Novruz. Though only Ganimat Zahid was released, we are happy and we would like to express our gratitude to the country’s president for listening to the human rights activists and not dismissing our request. We consider it our victory.
The Council of Europe and OSCE constantly voice their concern at the imprisonment of journalists in Azerbaijan. How do you expect them to react to Zahid’s release?
Of course the Council of Europe has repeatedly voiced its concern about the arrested editors-in-chief. We'll send today's news there, to the Council of Europe's human rights commissioner, the co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe monitoring group on Azerbaijan and their reaction will be positive. During their visits in February and March, [rapporteurs] Andres Herkel and Joseph Debono Grech and Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg expressed their concern about it. I think they will be happy with the decision. And I think this will be a positive step that cannot be underestimated.
As far as I know, the situation in Azerbaijan will be discussed at the PACE session in June. Do you think they will also take Ganimat Zahid’s release into account?
I think this step will be positively assessed. It is impossible to get everything at once. To attain something it is necessary to work all the time, ask, write, appeal and then as a result of mutual understanding between human rights activists and authorities we can attain the release of everyone that we are concerned about, including the sick, journalists and bloggers. I hope this is how it will be. I did not expect our appeal to be considered and Ganimat Zahid to be pardoned. We, the whole Monitoring group of Human Rights Organizations, would like to thank Mr President for this, because good deeds should be valued.
Will this soften the overall Council of Europe position on Azerbaijan?
I think it will. I do not think that this is the last step of this kind to be made by the president. I think such steps will also be made in future. Probably, the report on Azerbaijan will be positive considering the very fact of Ganimat Zahid’s release. This is a positive event, while the Council of Europe always values even the smallest positive step. Meanwhile, this step cannot be considered small. It is a great success
When do you think the other journalists will be released?
I think the others will be released step by step, because we are continuing our work.
Saida Gojamanli is a human rights activist, a member of the Monitoring Group of Human Rights Organizations and director of the board for human rights and the protection of the law.
Leyla Tagiyeva
News.Az