Azerbaijan, Baku, Apr. 2 /Trend News, K.Zarbaliyeva/

The amnesty bill, adopted on the occasion of the Novruz Holiday at the initiative of Azerbaijan's First Lady, Heydar Aliyev Foundation President, UNESCO and ISESCO Goodwill Ambassador, MP Mehriban Aliyeva, has released about 350 convicts, Penitentiary Service Public Relations Department told Trend News on Apr. 2.

The Parliament adopted the bill on amnesty in connection with the Novruz Holiday that was submitted to the Parliament by Mehriban Aliyeva.

The act will cover 9,000 convicts, 1,700 inmates will be released from prison.

Enforcement of the amnesty bill will take four months. Prisoners whose sentence is coming to an end and those suffering from serious illnesses are released first, the Penitentiary Service said.  

The exact number of prisoners to be covered by the amnesty will be known upon completion of execution of the bill, the PR Department said.

The amnesty bill will released over 5,000 persons sentenced to prison, community service, conditional sentence, Justice Ministry Court Officers Department Director Khanlar Zeynalov told Trend News on Apr. 2.

The Justice Ministry held a meeting and the Minister signed a decree to carry out necessary activities to provide timely and correct execution of the bill, he said.

The amnesty covered many convicts. They were exempted from punishment. Activities in this direction continue, Zeynalov said.

Eight amnesty acts have been applied since 1995 concerning 80,000 prisoners. Over 39,000 of them were released.

Earlier, the parliament approved Mehriban Aliyeva's bill in May 2007. This bill concerned roughly 9,000 prisoners and discharged 1,500 of them.

In accordance with 45 signed pardon decrees, 4,858 people have been set free since 1994. Ilham Aliyev inked 13 decrees and Heydar Aliyev - 32 decrees.

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