Eynulla Fatullayev Pardoned!

Just days after Amnesty activists organized a mass social media push to free imprisoned journalist Eynulla Fatullayev, he was released on May 26th!

An outspoken Azerbaijani journalist, Eynulla has long been targeted by a government intolerant of dissent. Despite a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights that found Eynulla wrongfully imprisoned, he has been jailed since 2007 on a series of trumped up charges, including defamation, terrorism and incitement to ethnic hatred.

Amnesty activists around the world have taken many creative approaches to pushing for the release of Eynulla Fatullayev.  But this past week, we tried something new–we joined a global Amnesty Twitter action for Eynulla. Activists took to Twitter with photos and messages aimed at the President of Azerbaijan with the message “Free Eynulla Fatullayev!” (or in Azeri: “Eynulla Fatullayevi azad et”).

Sample tweet to free Eynulla

Although we welcome the news of Eynulla’s pardon and release, we have to see how the government follows through and we remain concerned about his safety and the safety of other journalists in Azerbaijan.  We’ll keep you posted.

Thanks again for all of your actions on behalf of Eynulla!

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