The second of two bloggers, who were imprisoned last year in Azerbaijan for satirising the country’s government, has been released amid international outcry.
Calls for the bloggers’ release came to a head and US President Barack Obama lent his voice to the outcry, according to Reuters.
The activists and bloggers, Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, were arrested last July 2009 and convicted of hooliganism following an incident when the two were severely beaten in a restaurant. Upon filing a complaint about the assault, police instead detained them and they were charged instead.
Blogging their way into prison
The bloggers’ supporters say the two were jailed as a warning to other activists who opposed Ilham Aliyev’s regime.
Hajizade (one of the founders of OL! Azerbaijani Youth Movement – a social political movement) was released first and had to wait until today to see Milli join him.
The ruling granting them release did not overturn their convictions.
