Aliyev to pardon thousands

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has proposed a mass amnesty that may affect more than 20,000 people, state media reported on Monday.

Aliyev submitted a draft amnesty act to Azerbaijan's parliament, describing the initiative as a gesture of "humanism and mercy" following the 2023 recapture of the breakaway Karabakh region from Armenian forces, the Azertag state news agency said.

According to the report, the proposal would free 5,000 inmates and about 15,000 would see their sentences or penalties reduced or lifted.

It is unclear whether the plan would affect political prisoners, whose number has risen to almost 400 in recent years, according to the European Parliament.

The tightly-controlled oil-rich former Soviet republic has long faced criticism from rights

groups for suppressing political dissent and muzzling independent media.

In August, Armenia and its longtime arch-foe Azerbaijan committed to peace after decades of territorial conflict in a deal brokered by the White House.

Aliyev has ruled the country since 2003, after succeeding his father, Heydar, a former communist leader and KGB general.