On 2 March, popular anti-corruption blogger Mehman Huseynov was released after serving a two-year prison for slander.
He spent his first hours in freedom visiting the graves of his mother, who passed away in August year, and journalist Elmar Huseynov, who was killed by unknown gunmen fourteen years ago, and whose death is commemorated today.
Huseynov, who is well known for investigating the luxurious homes of government officials, was sentenced to prison in March 2017 for libeling the head of the Nasimi district's police station. Huseynov had spoken about the abuse he was reportedly subjected to while in police custody earlier the same year.
New charges were pressed against him in December last year for allegedly attacking a prison guard, which could have seen him in prison for up to seven more years. Huseynov started a hunger strike in protest, and authorities dropped the new criminal case against him in January after considerable domestic and international pressure.
