Azerbaijan's Supreme Court Just Ordered the Release of an Imprisoned Human Rights Lawyer

Azerbaijani human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev was released from prison Monday, making him the latest prisoner of conscience to be released from prison this month in the Caucasus country.

Azerbaijan's Supreme Court ordered that the founder of the Legal Education Society will instead serve the remaining five years of prison time as a conditional sentence. Aliyev is one of Azerbaijan's main lawyers, who regularly takes cases defending activists and government critics swept up in the government's continuing crackdown on opponents.

The release of Aliyev, who was arrested in August 2014 and sentenced to seven years in prison the following April, comes after President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree earlier this month ordering the release of 148 prisoners, including opposition members, journalists, and human rights activists.

Human rights group Amnesty International welcomed the release of the prisoner of conscience, but noted that Aliyev has paid dearly for his frontline human rights work. The Amnesty's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia, Denis Krivosheev, reinforced Aliyev's innocence.

"After more than a year and a half in prison, his release is welcome, but he must now be fully cleared of all charges and allowed to resume his work," Krivosheev said. "Without this, there will be no justice for this resolute defender of human rights in Azerbaijan."

Aliyev's sentence was handed down just before Azerbaijan hosted the European Games last year, when the government accused him of charged him with illegal entrepreneurship, tax avoidance, and abuse of power. His case followed a guilty verdict and six-year sentence against Rasul Jafarov, another lawyer in the former Soviet Republic. Jafarov was among those released in the wave of pardons this month.

Prior to the European Games, Azerbaijan made another controversial move by denying visas for journalists from the BBC, The Guardian, and Radio France International, as well as for activists from Amnesty International.

Others included in the prisoner release included rights advocates Taleh Khasmamadov and Hilal Mammadov, along with opposition National Statehood Party chief Nemat Panahli. There were also six opposition party members and youth activists on the list, journalist Parviz Hasimov, and Anar Mammadli, a human rights activist, and election observer. Similar to Aliyev, these prisoners had been convicted on charges that included tax evasion, illegal business activity, and drug trafficking.

The country, which lies along the Caspian sea situated between Iran to the south and Russia to the North, has come under fire from the West and international organizations in recent years over its human rights record. Analysts say President Ilham Aliyev has included some political prisoners in amnesties in recent years to deflect complaints over crackdowns on free speech in Azerbaijan, a major oil and natural gas exporter. The leader is expected to travel to the US this month, the BBC reported.

In a statement from the group, Amnesty called for the release of several other prisoners of conscience who remain in prison. One of the more prominent among those prisoners is investigative reporter Khadija Ismaylova. According to a letter reportedly written by the reporter and sent to the Washington Post in 2015, she has been held in solitary confinement. Following the latest batch of releases, Amnesty says at least seven political prisoners remain in the country's prisons.

Reuters contributed to this report.