Amnesty Act draft presented to National Assembly

Azerbaijan’s parliament, the Milli Mejclis. Photo by European Parliament is licensed under CC BY 2.0

President Ilham Aliyev submitted a draft resolution to grant amnesty to special cases. This act, which was prepared for the occasion of 8 November, Victory Day, will be discussed on 5 November in a plenary session.

The bank holiday was established by decree in December 2020 and marks the commemoration of Azerbaijan’s victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh War in Fall 2020.

The focus of the Act is to concede amnesty to people were involved in the war, and also extends this amnesty to close relatives of those who were killed or missing during the hostilities.

However, the draft covers not only both war periods (both the 2020 War and the war in the 1990s), but also any other unspecified military operation that aimed to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

In addition, amnesty will also be granted to persons and close relatives of persons who served in the Armed Forces of the former USSR, former combatants of World War II, those who were subjected to political repression in the former USSR and their close relatives, and to those who participated in the disposal of nuclear waste in Chernobyl. It also prescribes the release of some convicted people from the unserved part of their sentences.

ГлавнаяPoliticsAmnesty Act draft presented to National Assembly