BAKU — The president of Azerbaijan has pardoned 87 people, including journalists, rights activists and opponents jailed in cases the opposition says were evidence of shrinking political freedoms, state media reported on Thursday. Rights groups accuse President Ilham Aliyev, who succeeded his father in 2003, of clamping down on dissent and rigging elections but say Azerbaijan's role as energy supplier to Europe and transit route for US troops in Afghanistan has cushioned him from strong Western criticism. Among those pardoned in a New Year amnesty was Aidyn Janiyev, a reporter for an opposition newspaper sentenced to three years in prison in November 2011 for hooliganism. Prominent human rights activists, members of opposition Popular Front Party and people who protested against a ban on schoolgirls wearing Islamic dress were also freed. The government says Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic of about 9 million people, sandwiched between Russia, Iran and Turkey, enjoys full freedom of speech and a free press. Pardoned journalistAnar Bayramli, a reporter for Iran's Sahar TV and the Fars news agency, who was arrested in Feb. 2012 after police found him in possession of heroin. — Reuters
