Azerbaijan: two women-Jehovah's Witnesses released after one year in prison

In Azerbaijan, after nearly a year of imprisonment, 55-year-old Irina Zakharchenko and 38-year-old Valida Djebrailova, members of the Jehovah's Witnesses community, were released in the courtroom. The court found them guilty on the charge of distributing banned religious books and sentenced them to punishment in the form of a fine, but at once exempted them from paying it.

On January 28, the decision was pronounced by Judge Akram Gakhramanov of the Pirallakhi District Court. This was told to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent by Elshan Gasanov, the leader of the Centre for monitoring of political prisoners.

"The criminal prosecution and detention of two women Irina Zakharchenko, a 58-year-old disabled widow, and 38-year-old Valida Djebrailova, who took care of her aged mother before the arrest was one of the grossest violations of human rights in Azerbaijan. The investigation into the case was carried out by the Ministry of National Security, transformed into the State Security Service, and it was not transparent," Elshan Gasanov has said.

He believes that the release of women was the result of "international pressure, including from the UN agencies."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.