'More than 250 people were released from detention facilities in Azerbaijan last month'

Baku, March 15, AZERTAC More than 250 people were released from detention facilities in Azerbaijan last month, Minister of Justice Fikrat Mammadov has told AZERTAC in an exclusive interview. "President Ilham Aliyev`s orders to improve penitentiary system encouraged continuation of reforms in the judicial system and paved the way for rapid development in this area." Fikrat Mammadov noted that vital changes were made to the legislation on the decriminalization of some actions in the economic sphere last year at the initiative of the President of Azerbaijan. "Thanks t0 these measures many convicts were released or had their sentence terms cut." "Relevant draft laws are being drawn up by a joint working group of the Ministry of Justice, General Prosecutor's Office and the Supreme Court. The last month saw the release of more than 250 persons from detention facilities. Another achievement in this area is that the number of people remanded in custody has significantly fallen," Minister Mammadov added.