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The Commission on issues of pardon under the President of Azerbaijan made a list of those who’s pardoning are expected next week.
Obviously, this list included a few political prisoners from the report of Christoph Strasser, and after its approval, the PACE, the U.S. State Department and other human rights organizations will express their satisfaction with decision of the President.
The inconsistency in the judgments of the main fighters for human rights is more than obvious.
Pardoning is an act of the President, completely or partially exempting from penalty of the convicted person or the replacing of a sentence to a milder. Pardon is applied only to guilty.
If persons recognized by political prisoners, are innocent and sentenced illegally, at least, it should seek a reconsidering of their cases, and not to rejoice of pardon.
Justice, like pregnancy, cannot be halfhearted. Or it is, or it is not, or it is false.
By the way, in his famous treatise, C. Beccaria wrote about the essence of a pardon the following: “In process of mitigating a mercy and forgiveness become less necessary. Happy is the nation which considers them harmful. So, mercy is the virtue that sometimes complements the responsibilities assumed by the throne. It should have no place in a perfect legislation, where punishments are mild, and a court is just and swift. This truth may seem harsh to someone who lives in a country with a disordered system of criminal law. That is why, in this country the necessity in petition and mercy is directly dependent on the absurdity of laws and harshness of sentences. Pardon and mercy are the most beloved prerogative of the throne and the desired attributes of the supreme power … However, if take into the account that the mercy is a virtue of the legislator, and not executors the laws then this mercy should be shown in its entire splendor in the code of law, but not in the special court decisions. Then to show people that crime can be excused and that punishment is not necessarily its result, it means to engender in them the illusion of impunity and get them to believe that if you can achieve pardon, then putting into the execution of the sentence to an unforgiving person is rather violent act of power, than the result of justice. What about sovereign mercy, that is, the assignment of the guarantor of public safety to an individual infringer? Only that to this personal act of unenlightened charity is given of force of act of power, decreeing of impunity”.
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