NDI celebrates the news that Anar Mammadli and 13 other political prisoners regained their freedom in Azerbaijan on March 17. Mammadli was arrested in December 2013, shortly after his organization, the Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center (EMDS), released a report that criticized how the presidential election was conducted earlier that year. Although no evidence of wrongdoing was ever produced, Mammadli was convicted and sentenced. He served two and a half years in prison.

Through his lifetime of activism, Mammadli has defended democracy in Azerbaijan with courage and integrity.  NDI has been proud to partner with him and EMDS.

Mammadli is one of more than 100 journalists, bloggers, human rights defenders, and political activists who have been unjustly imprisoned over the last three years. Most of them remain in detention. They deserve immediate release.